The US State Department has approved a possible sale to Bulgaria of 183 Stryker combat vehicles and related equipment for an estimated cost of USD 1.5 billion, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a press release on Friday, specifying that it had delivered the required certification notifying Congress on the same day.
Bulgaria has requested to buy 90 XM1296 Infantry Carrier Vehicles - Dragoon; 17 M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicles; nine M1132 Engineer Squad Vehicles; 33 M1130 Command Vehicles; 24 M1133 Medical Evacuation Vehicles; ten M1135 Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicles (NBCRV); five Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) Light Equipment Transports; five Modular Catastrophic Recovery Systems; two M1120A4 HEMTT Load Handling Systems; five M984A4 Wrecker HEMTTs, plus support service equipment, remote operated weapons stations, machine guns, smoke grenade launchers, radios, communications equipment, a ranger radar and other related elements of logistics and program support, DSCA reported.
"This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe," the Agency said. "The proposed sale will improve Bulgaria's rapid infantry deployment and force projection capability. Bulgaria will use this enhanced capability to strengthen its homeland defense and deter regional threats. Bulgaria will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment and services into its armed forces."
The principal contractor will be General Dynamics Land Systems of Anniston, Alabama. Twenty Stryker contractor representatives will have to travel to Bulgaria for 24 months to conduct contractor logistics support, training, and component assembly support.
The notification does not indicate that a contract has been signed or that negotiations have concluded.
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