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The vessels
are part of a bigger acquisition plan, which has been approved by the
parliament, aiming at replacing legacy equipment and bringing the country
closer to the NATO standards.
Bulgarian security concerns arise from Russia’s policy in Ukraine,
while it considers possible that illegal immigrants and refugees from
war torn countries might arrive by sea through Turkey.
The surface units will be fully equipped and will feature a helipad.
The Bulgarian Government is considering of building the ships locally
in an effort to cut the costs by 30% according to the minister. However,
this estimate might not be proved given that two units are quite few
to create economies of scale, while design and construction rights could
increase the overall cost.
Previous plans of the Bulgarian Navy to acquire modern corvettes had
been scrapped due to financial constraints. Instead, the Ministry of
Defence accepted three Wielingen-class frigates from the Belgian Navy. |
