The U.S. State Division has authorised a virtually $1.7 billion sale of as much as eight Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-16 C/D Block 70 Viper fighters and associated munitions to Bulgaria.
The Protection Safety Cooperation Company mentioned that it had knowledgeable Congress of the potential sale on Apr. 4.
The sale may additionally embody 19 Raytheon Applied sciences [RTX] Superior Medium Vary Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) AIM-120C-7/C-8 or equal missiles; 28 Boeing [BA] GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs); 4 Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Superior Focusing on Pods (ATPs); 12 Boeing KMU-572 Joint Direct Assault Munition (JDAM) tail kits for 500 pound GBU-38 or laser JDAM GBU-54s; and L3Harris [LHX] Distant Operated Video Enhanced Receivers (ROVER).
DSCA steered that the sale may support Europe’s footing towards Russia’s assault on Ukraine and towards future aggressions.
“The proposed sale will enhance Bulgaria’s functionality to satisfy present and future threats by enabling the Bulgarian Air Drive to deploy fashionable fighter plane routinely within the Black Sea area,” DSCA mentioned on Apr. 4. “The acquisition of those plane would offer Bulgaria a NATO interoperable platform and permit the Bulgarian Air Drive to function extra regularly alongside different regional F-16 operators, selling frequent doctrine and operations. Bulgaria has proven a dedication to modernizing its armed forces and can have no problem absorbing these plane and providers into its armed forces.”
The State Division approval of the F-16 sale to Bulgaria got here the identical day, that Crimson Cat Holdings, Inc. [RCAT]–the proprietor of the Utah-based drone maker, Teal Drones, mentioned that an unspecified NATO nation had ordered 15 of the corporate’s Golden Eagle drones to be used in Ukraine.
“Drones within the class of the Golden Eagle might be among the many most impactful applied sciences throughout a struggle, and there’s a important want for drones in Ukraine for use for reconnaissance functions,” George Matus, founder and CEO of Teal Drones, mentioned in a press release. “We at the moment are seeing small drones just like the Golden Eagle serving to to outline the outcomes of wars resembling what we’re experiencing now.”
Jeff Thompson, the CEO of Crimson Cat, mentioned within the assertion that “because the struggle in Ukraine started, now we have seen sturdy curiosity within the Teal drone platform from quite a few European nations.”
“Protection budgets inside Europe have risen seemingly in a single day as a result of must assist this present invasion, in addition to the need to be ready for future geopolitical conflicts,” he mentioned. “Many nations and navy models are recognizing the strategic profit of getting an enough baseline stock of drone models that may be invaluable in reconnaissance and surveillance on the entrance strains. We consider that is the primary of many relationships and purchases within the area.”
