NATO member Bulgaria expects the US to offer to sell it eight new F-16 fighter jets for its air force at a discounted price of $1.2 billion, the Defense Ministry in Sofia said on Tuesday.
The US State Department approved the possible sale of eight F-16 aircraft and related equipment at an estimated cost of $1.67 billion, a Pentagon agency said on Monday.
Bulgaria is looking to replace its ageing Soviet-made MiG-29s and improve compliance with NATO standards. A deal for Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Block 70 would be the Balkan country’s biggest military procurement since the fall of Communist rule some 30 years ago, Reuters said.
The US approval outlined the upper threshold of the cost, the Bulgarian ministry said. It expects a draft contract from Washington within two weeks.