ANKARA - Although Turkey still plans to buy about 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, it has not formally committed to the U.S.-led program. To do so, it needs to submit a purchase order for a first batch of six aircraft before the end of this year.
"We will have talks [with the Americans] in the months ahead in an effort to resolve some matters," said Murad Bayar, chief of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, the government's defense procurement agency. "If we manage to reach an agreement, we expect to order the first six aircraft this year. We expect to reach a deal."
The F-35, whose production is led by Lockheed Martin, will be built by a consortium of nine countries, including Turkey. Other members of the consortium are Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Norway and Denmark.
A few years ago, when Turkey's planned buy of about 100 jets was expected to cost approximately $10 billion, Turkish companies grabbed project work worth up to $5 billion. But the unit price has gone up over the past two years, exceeding $12 billion, according to Turkish officials.
Now Turkish companies seek to raise their share to around $6 billion to stay near the planned 50 percent figure. In addition, the U.S. remains reluctant to share millions of lines of source code that make the plane's flight possible. But Turkey wants access to part of the source code related to operational needs.
But placing an order for the first six aircraft before the end of this year is related mostly to early deliveries, around 2014 and 2015, and failure to do so would not undermine participation in the program, Bayar said.
"If we don't place the first purchase order by the year end, it would not necessarily mean that we have failed to agree. It may mean that we, at this point, may not have the finances," Bayar said. "Anyway, we hope that none of this happens."
The F-35 comes in three variants for conventional takeoff and landing, short takeoff and vertical landing, and for aircraft carrier operations.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Italy Removes Aircraft Carrier from Libya Campaign
ROME - Italy is withdrawing its aircraft carrier the Garibaldi from NATO's operation in Libya to cut 80 million euros ($114 million) in costs, a minister announced July 6.
They also planned to pull out another ship from the mission.
"We have cut back costs in Libya, from 142 million euros forecast in the first half of the year to less than 60 million for the second half," Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said after a government meeting.
The news came after Italy's Cabinet moved to cut spending military spending.
The plan had been drawn up to pull the Garibaldi, its three fighter jets and 1,000 personnel out of the mission as they were "no longer necessary", La Russa said.
The Garibaldi would be replaced by a smaller boat and other planes from military bases would be used, he added.
Another ship would also be withdrawn from the mission as well, he added without elaborating.
Italy has several ships and eight planes deployed in NATO's mission against Libya's Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Seven of its air bases are also used by other members of the coalition.
With Italy grappling a financial crisis that has forced it to pass a series of austerity cuts, the government on July 6 said it had decided to gradually reduce its military operations abroad.
Italy has troops deployed in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Kosovo and is involved in NATO's military operations in Libya, despite the objections of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, Berlusconi's coalition ally.
The League, lead by populist Umberto Bossi, has called for a dramatic reduction in Italy's military presence abroad to free up public funds.
Some 7,200 Italian troops were deployed in 28 countries as of June 30, according to the defense ministry website: 4,200 troops in Afghanistan, 1,700 in Lebanon and 650 in the Balkans.
The finance ministry said July 6 it aimed to save 40 billion euros ($57.1 billion) over the next four years.
They also planned to pull out another ship from the mission.
"We have cut back costs in Libya, from 142 million euros forecast in the first half of the year to less than 60 million for the second half," Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said after a government meeting.
The news came after Italy's Cabinet moved to cut spending military spending.
The plan had been drawn up to pull the Garibaldi, its three fighter jets and 1,000 personnel out of the mission as they were "no longer necessary", La Russa said.
The Garibaldi would be replaced by a smaller boat and other planes from military bases would be used, he added.
Another ship would also be withdrawn from the mission as well, he added without elaborating.
Italy has several ships and eight planes deployed in NATO's mission against Libya's Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Seven of its air bases are also used by other members of the coalition.
With Italy grappling a financial crisis that has forced it to pass a series of austerity cuts, the government on July 6 said it had decided to gradually reduce its military operations abroad.
Italy has troops deployed in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Kosovo and is involved in NATO's military operations in Libya, despite the objections of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, Berlusconi's coalition ally.
The League, lead by populist Umberto Bossi, has called for a dramatic reduction in Italy's military presence abroad to free up public funds.
Some 7,200 Italian troops were deployed in 28 countries as of June 30, according to the defense ministry website: 4,200 troops in Afghanistan, 1,700 in Lebanon and 650 in the Balkans.
The finance ministry said July 6 it aimed to save 40 billion euros ($57.1 billion) over the next four years.
Report: N. Korea Paid Bribes for Nuclear Secrets
WASHINGTON - The architect of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program claims North Korea paid bribes to senior Pakistani military officials in return for nuclear secrets in the 1990s, the Washington Post said July 6.
The Post said documents released by nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan purportedly show him helping to transfer more than $3 million to senior officers, who he says then approved the leak of nuclear know-how to Pyongyang.
Khan passed a copy of a North Korean official's letter, which details the transaction, to former British journalist Simon Henderson, who then shared the information with the Washington Post, the newspaper said.
The Post cited Western intelligence officials as saying they believed the letter was accurate, but they said Pakistani officials have denied Khan's claims and argued that it is a forgery.
Khan - considered a national hero in Pakistan because he played a key role in the creation of the Islamic world's first atomic bomb - has long been at odds with Pakistani officials who have insisted he acted alone.
Khan admitted on national television in 2004 that he passed atomic secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya, but he later retracted his remarks and in 2009 was freed from house arrest, although he was asked to keep a low profile.
Those secrets are nevertheless widely believed to have allowed North Korea to develop a uranium route alongside its existing plutonium weapons program.
The letter, dated July 15, 1998, marked "Secret," and purportedly signed by North Korean Workers' Party Secretary Jon Byong Ho, says "the 3 millions (sic) dollars have already been paid" to one Pakistani military official and "half a million dollars" and some jewelry had been given to a second official.
It then says: "Please give the agreed documents, components, etc to (a North Korean Embassy official in Pakistan) to be flown back when our plane returns after delivery of missile components."
In written statements to Henderson, Khan describes delivering the cash in a canvas bag and cartons, including one in which it was hidden under fruit.
Jehangir Karamat, a former military chief said to have received the $3 million payment, and Lieutenant General Zulfiqar Khan, the named recipient of the other payment, both denied the letter's authenticity to the Post.
The Post report could further heighten tensions between Pakistan and the United States, which has long been concerned about Islamabad's nuclear arsenal.
The two uneasy allies have been increasingly divided since the U.S. commando raid in May that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a compound near Islamabad where he had been living for years.
The Post said documents released by nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan purportedly show him helping to transfer more than $3 million to senior officers, who he says then approved the leak of nuclear know-how to Pyongyang.
Khan passed a copy of a North Korean official's letter, which details the transaction, to former British journalist Simon Henderson, who then shared the information with the Washington Post, the newspaper said.
The Post cited Western intelligence officials as saying they believed the letter was accurate, but they said Pakistani officials have denied Khan's claims and argued that it is a forgery.
Khan - considered a national hero in Pakistan because he played a key role in the creation of the Islamic world's first atomic bomb - has long been at odds with Pakistani officials who have insisted he acted alone.
Khan admitted on national television in 2004 that he passed atomic secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya, but he later retracted his remarks and in 2009 was freed from house arrest, although he was asked to keep a low profile.
Those secrets are nevertheless widely believed to have allowed North Korea to develop a uranium route alongside its existing plutonium weapons program.
The letter, dated July 15, 1998, marked "Secret," and purportedly signed by North Korean Workers' Party Secretary Jon Byong Ho, says "the 3 millions (sic) dollars have already been paid" to one Pakistani military official and "half a million dollars" and some jewelry had been given to a second official.
It then says: "Please give the agreed documents, components, etc to (a North Korean Embassy official in Pakistan) to be flown back when our plane returns after delivery of missile components."
In written statements to Henderson, Khan describes delivering the cash in a canvas bag and cartons, including one in which it was hidden under fruit.
Jehangir Karamat, a former military chief said to have received the $3 million payment, and Lieutenant General Zulfiqar Khan, the named recipient of the other payment, both denied the letter's authenticity to the Post.
The Post report could further heighten tensions between Pakistan and the United States, which has long been concerned about Islamabad's nuclear arsenal.
The two uneasy allies have been increasingly divided since the U.S. commando raid in May that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a compound near Islamabad where he had been living for years.
Canada Ends Combat Mission in Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canada ended its nine-year combat mission in Afghanistan on July 7, closing the curtain after the deaths of 157 troops and signaling the start of further American and NATO withdrawals later this year.
The departure of nearly 3,000 soldiers, who took on some of the heaviest fighting in the southern province of Kandahar, comes as Western forces begin to announce gradual drawdowns of troops ahead of a full withdrawal in 2014.
After Canada spent more than $11 billion on the increasingly unpopular war, most of the Canadian soldiers have packed up and gone home.
A change of command ceremony was held at Kandahar airfield to mark the formal end of combat operations, although hundreds of other troops are being sent to work in a training role in the Afghan capital.
Afghan, Canadian and American national anthems were played to a small group of soldiers from each country, before commanders addressed the crowd and formally handed control of the mission to the United States.
"Over the years Canadians, both military and civilian, have made the ultimate sacrifice," Brigadier Gen. Dean Milner, head of the Canadian combat mission, said in his speech to the assembled troops. "Although there is still work to do, (we) are extremely proud of what has been accomplished."
Canadian soldiers first deployed to Afghanistan in early 2002, several months after a U.S.-led invasion of the country to oust the Taliban in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
They arrived in Kandahar - the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban - in 2006 and have faced a tough fight to overcome a trenchant insurgency in the farming districts north and west of the main provincial city.
"The Canadians had a lot of challenges in Kandahar, not the least was the deep entrenchment of the Taliban insurgents in places like Arghandab, Panjwayi and Maywand (districts)," said Kabul-based analyst Candace Rondeaux of the International Crisis Group. "At the same time, they certainly were able to stabilize different areas of the province at different points of their engagement and were noted for their high level of civilian engagement which set them apart from other NATO forces."
The handover comes a day after British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that 500 troops would go home in 2012, and a fortnight after U.S. President Barack Obama said 33,000 "surge" troops would return by next summer.
France and Belgium have also recently announced modest troop reductions as the Western coalition eyes the end of the 10-year war.
"The picture's very mixed as exit builds," added Rondeaux. "It's difficult to say anyone accomplished the mission perfectly."
In recent weeks Canadian troops have been completing their final patrols, packing up dusty outposts and gathering at the giant Kandahar airfield military base to debrief before starting to catch their flights home.
On July 5, Canada handed control of their last district to U.S. forces in a flag-lowering ceremony, a key symbolic step in the drawdown process, although the Americans had been in place for weeks.
Public opposition to the war in Canada has grown, with a poll earlier this year by Vision Critical/Angus Reid indicating 63 percent of Canadians were against it, compared to 47 percent in 2010.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged in 2008 that troops would leave this year.
After U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May, Harper said he believed Afghanistan was "no longer a source of global terrorism."
A separate Canadian training mission involving 950 troops will work in Kabul with Afghan security forces.
Canada will also continue to give aid to Afghanistan, with its overall involvement between now and the end of 2014 expected to cost about US$700 million a year.
The departure of nearly 3,000 soldiers, who took on some of the heaviest fighting in the southern province of Kandahar, comes as Western forces begin to announce gradual drawdowns of troops ahead of a full withdrawal in 2014.
After Canada spent more than $11 billion on the increasingly unpopular war, most of the Canadian soldiers have packed up and gone home.
A change of command ceremony was held at Kandahar airfield to mark the formal end of combat operations, although hundreds of other troops are being sent to work in a training role in the Afghan capital.
Afghan, Canadian and American national anthems were played to a small group of soldiers from each country, before commanders addressed the crowd and formally handed control of the mission to the United States.
"Over the years Canadians, both military and civilian, have made the ultimate sacrifice," Brigadier Gen. Dean Milner, head of the Canadian combat mission, said in his speech to the assembled troops. "Although there is still work to do, (we) are extremely proud of what has been accomplished."
Canadian soldiers first deployed to Afghanistan in early 2002, several months after a U.S.-led invasion of the country to oust the Taliban in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
They arrived in Kandahar - the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban - in 2006 and have faced a tough fight to overcome a trenchant insurgency in the farming districts north and west of the main provincial city.
"The Canadians had a lot of challenges in Kandahar, not the least was the deep entrenchment of the Taliban insurgents in places like Arghandab, Panjwayi and Maywand (districts)," said Kabul-based analyst Candace Rondeaux of the International Crisis Group. "At the same time, they certainly were able to stabilize different areas of the province at different points of their engagement and were noted for their high level of civilian engagement which set them apart from other NATO forces."
The handover comes a day after British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that 500 troops would go home in 2012, and a fortnight after U.S. President Barack Obama said 33,000 "surge" troops would return by next summer.
France and Belgium have also recently announced modest troop reductions as the Western coalition eyes the end of the 10-year war.
"The picture's very mixed as exit builds," added Rondeaux. "It's difficult to say anyone accomplished the mission perfectly."
In recent weeks Canadian troops have been completing their final patrols, packing up dusty outposts and gathering at the giant Kandahar airfield military base to debrief before starting to catch their flights home.
On July 5, Canada handed control of their last district to U.S. forces in a flag-lowering ceremony, a key symbolic step in the drawdown process, although the Americans had been in place for weeks.
Public opposition to the war in Canada has grown, with a poll earlier this year by Vision Critical/Angus Reid indicating 63 percent of Canadians were against it, compared to 47 percent in 2010.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged in 2008 that troops would leave this year.
After U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May, Harper said he believed Afghanistan was "no longer a source of global terrorism."
A separate Canadian training mission involving 950 troops will work in Kabul with Afghan security forces.
Canada will also continue to give aid to Afghanistan, with its overall involvement between now and the end of 2014 expected to cost about US$700 million a year.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Russia, NATO Remain At Odds Over Libya Campaign
SOCHI, Russia - Russia and NATO on July 4 said they were still at odds over the air campaign in Libya after talks between Russian leaders and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
"So far, there is no common understanding over how the resolution is being implemented," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, referring to the U.N. Security Council resolution that paved the way for the air campaign.
Lavrov and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earlier held talks with Rasmussen in this Black Sea city in a bid to overcome their differences and find a peaceful solution to the Libya crisis.
Lavrov said they were also joined by South African President Jacob Zuma, who earlier had a bilateral meeting with Medvedev and like Russia wants a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Russia abstained in the resolution vote at the Security Council but has since expressed growing anger over the duration and intensity of the NATO-led air strikes against targets of Moammar Gadhafi's Libyan regime.
Last week Russia was particularly angered by a direct French arms drop to rebels fighting Gadhafi's forces and the two sides made no attempt to hide their differences after the Sochi talks.
"We consider the arms embargo [under the U.N. Security Council resolution] to be unambiguous," Lavrov said. "Any weapons deliveries are a violation of the resolution," he added.
"They [NATO] have a different opinion - that the resolution can let anyone do anything."
Rasmussen vehemently defended the arms drop and said it was in line with the resolution.
"The delivery of weapons has taken place as part of protection of civilians and the ability to protect themselves against attacks," he said.
"So far we have successfully implemented the resolution."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, third from left, speaks with NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, fifth from left, during the Russia-NATO Council meeting July 4 in Sochi, Russia. (Mikhail Mordasov / Agence France-Presse)
Lavrov and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earlier held talks with Rasmussen in this Black Sea city in a bid to overcome their differences and find a peaceful solution to the Libya crisis.
Lavrov said they were also joined by South African President Jacob Zuma, who earlier had a bilateral meeting with Medvedev and like Russia wants a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Russia abstained in the resolution vote at the Security Council but has since expressed growing anger over the duration and intensity of the NATO-led air strikes against targets of Moammar Gadhafi's Libyan regime.
Last week Russia was particularly angered by a direct French arms drop to rebels fighting Gadhafi's forces and the two sides made no attempt to hide their differences after the Sochi talks.
"We consider the arms embargo [under the U.N. Security Council resolution] to be unambiguous," Lavrov said. "Any weapons deliveries are a violation of the resolution," he added.
"They [NATO] have a different opinion - that the resolution can let anyone do anything."
Rasmussen vehemently defended the arms drop and said it was in line with the resolution.
"The delivery of weapons has taken place as part of protection of civilians and the ability to protect themselves against attacks," he said.
"So far we have successfully implemented the resolution."
German Politicians Angered Over Saudi Tank Sale
BERLIN - German opposition parties and even some members of the ruling parties were up in arms Tuesday over reports that the government wants to overturn its export rules and sell hundreds of tanks to Saudi Arabia.
This followed press reports that Saudi Arabia is about to buy 200 Leopard-2s, Germany's main battle tank that is also produced under license in Spain.
Germany has declined for more than 20 years to sell such heavy weapons to Saudi Arabia because of concerns over human rights and fear for Israel's security.
To date, the government has refused to confirm the reports and said such matters are discussed confidentially within the federal security council, which determines export guidelines.
"The federal security council meets secretly. Therefore we can comment neither about its deliberations, nor about its decisions," foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke has told reporters.
But opposition leaders have demanded a parliamentary debate on the matter.
"The government must explain itself at some stage," Green parliamentary leader Juergen Trittin told ARD television on July 5.
"Such decisions cannot be taken at a time when people are fighting for democracy in the Arab world," he added.
"And now one's trying to say such heavy weapons can simply be sold to dictators - and that is the case in Saudi Arabia," he added.
"The government's readiness to sell 200 modern German tanks at a time of tension in the near East and the Arab peninsula denotes a frightening lack of judgment," the social-democrat parliamentary deputy leader Gernot Erler told the Welt newspaper's online service.
Such a policy demonstrates that Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Guido Westewelle "only pay lip service to supporting democratic movements in the Arab world," he added.
Selling tanks to Saudi Arabia at a time when that country has sent armored vehicles to help put down a peaceful protest movement in neighboring Bahrain is "a slap in the face for freedom movements in the whole region," Erler added.
The tiny but strategic Gulf archipelago, joined by a causeway to Saudi Arabia, has experienced repeated bouts of unrest between its Shiite majority population and its Saudi-backed Sunni ruling family.
Even in Merkel's government ranks, news of the possible deal has ruffled feathers.
Ruprecht Polenz, a Christian-Democrat who heads parliament's foreign affairs commission, suggested such a sale would go against all previous rules about exporting weapons to countries in turmoil, and even the parliament's Christian-Democrat president, Norbert Lammert, expressed concern about the timing of such a deal given the crackdown in Bahrain, newspapers reported.
The Saudi order for Leopard-2A7+ - a 55- to 62-ton tank equipped with a 120 mm gun - could be worth billions of euros to the companies Kraus-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall, Der Spiegel magazine reported.
The Saudi kingdom has been in talks with the Spanish subsidiary of General Dynamics about buying their version of the Leopard tank, but the major portion of the order would land with the Germans, the magazine suggested.
The Saudis are also in talks with U.S. companies for $60 billion (41 billion euros) worth of defense equipment that would become the largest U.S. contract ever.
In an editorial, Die Welt newspaper defended the government's bid to sell the tanks and said Saudi Arabia needed to be able to defend itself against Iran.
With Iran threatening to acquire nuclear weapons "the only way to avoid a nuclear arms race (in the region) is to help the Saudis develop a strong conventional deterrence," it said.
This followed press reports that Saudi Arabia is about to buy 200 Leopard-2s, Germany's main battle tank that is also produced under license in Spain.
Germany has declined for more than 20 years to sell such heavy weapons to Saudi Arabia because of concerns over human rights and fear for Israel's security.
To date, the government has refused to confirm the reports and said such matters are discussed confidentially within the federal security council, which determines export guidelines.
"The federal security council meets secretly. Therefore we can comment neither about its deliberations, nor about its decisions," foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke has told reporters.
But opposition leaders have demanded a parliamentary debate on the matter.
"The government must explain itself at some stage," Green parliamentary leader Juergen Trittin told ARD television on July 5.
"Such decisions cannot be taken at a time when people are fighting for democracy in the Arab world," he added.
"And now one's trying to say such heavy weapons can simply be sold to dictators - and that is the case in Saudi Arabia," he added.
"The government's readiness to sell 200 modern German tanks at a time of tension in the near East and the Arab peninsula denotes a frightening lack of judgment," the social-democrat parliamentary deputy leader Gernot Erler told the Welt newspaper's online service.
Such a policy demonstrates that Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Guido Westewelle "only pay lip service to supporting democratic movements in the Arab world," he added.
Selling tanks to Saudi Arabia at a time when that country has sent armored vehicles to help put down a peaceful protest movement in neighboring Bahrain is "a slap in the face for freedom movements in the whole region," Erler added.
The tiny but strategic Gulf archipelago, joined by a causeway to Saudi Arabia, has experienced repeated bouts of unrest between its Shiite majority population and its Saudi-backed Sunni ruling family.
Even in Merkel's government ranks, news of the possible deal has ruffled feathers.
Ruprecht Polenz, a Christian-Democrat who heads parliament's foreign affairs commission, suggested such a sale would go against all previous rules about exporting weapons to countries in turmoil, and even the parliament's Christian-Democrat president, Norbert Lammert, expressed concern about the timing of such a deal given the crackdown in Bahrain, newspapers reported.
The Saudi order for Leopard-2A7+ - a 55- to 62-ton tank equipped with a 120 mm gun - could be worth billions of euros to the companies Kraus-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall, Der Spiegel magazine reported.
The Saudi kingdom has been in talks with the Spanish subsidiary of General Dynamics about buying their version of the Leopard tank, but the major portion of the order would land with the Germans, the magazine suggested.
The Saudis are also in talks with U.S. companies for $60 billion (41 billion euros) worth of defense equipment that would become the largest U.S. contract ever.
In an editorial, Die Welt newspaper defended the government's bid to sell the tanks and said Saudi Arabia needed to be able to defend itself against Iran.
With Iran threatening to acquire nuclear weapons "the only way to avoid a nuclear arms race (in the region) is to help the Saudis develop a strong conventional deterrence," it said.
Bulgaria To Shift Arms Exports to EU, NATO Markets
SOFIA, Bulgaria - After decades concentrating on Asia and Africa, Bulgaria plans to shift its arms exports to markets in the European Union and NATO, according to a new defense strategy presented July 5.
Currently, arms exports to EU and NATO countries do not exceed 10 percent of Bulgaria's annual defense sales abroad, which stand at about 250 million lev ($185 million), said the document, which was drafted jointly by the economy and defense ministries.
"Maintaining this tendency would hinder Bulgaria's integration and have a negative effect on the industry's competitiveness," it added.
The strategy has yet to be approved by the government during the next few months.
"This strategy is the first real effort on the part of any government since the fall of communism to offer a long-term development vision for the defense industry," Economy Minister Traicho Traikov said at the document's presentation July 5.
Under communism, Bulgaria's arms and munitions industry employed 115,000 people and shipped abroad some $700 million to $800 million worth of production.
But the collapse of communism, the disbanding of the Warsaw Pact defense treaty and a number of international arms sales embargoes to countries in Africa and the Arab world plunged the once booming industry into a deep crisis in the 1990s.
The majority of production facilities were privatized, but failure to attract foreign investors put them in the hands of small local buyers with limited potential for new investments.
An industry source told AFP on July 5 that Bulgaria still managed to preserve some of its markets in the Middle East, India and Algeria.
The new strategy will aim to keep these traditional arms export partners by forming joint ventures and common research and development projects.
Another major goal was to encourage the Bulgarian army to buy more local defense equipment by developing it to become fully compatible with NATO standards and also engage in collective alliance defense projects from 2018 on.
Bulgaria's defense industry currently employs some 15,000 people and makes up 0.5 percent of the general industry share in the country's gross domestic product, according to the document.
Currently, arms exports to EU and NATO countries do not exceed 10 percent of Bulgaria's annual defense sales abroad, which stand at about 250 million lev ($185 million), said the document, which was drafted jointly by the economy and defense ministries.
"Maintaining this tendency would hinder Bulgaria's integration and have a negative effect on the industry's competitiveness," it added.
The strategy has yet to be approved by the government during the next few months.
"This strategy is the first real effort on the part of any government since the fall of communism to offer a long-term development vision for the defense industry," Economy Minister Traicho Traikov said at the document's presentation July 5.
Under communism, Bulgaria's arms and munitions industry employed 115,000 people and shipped abroad some $700 million to $800 million worth of production.
But the collapse of communism, the disbanding of the Warsaw Pact defense treaty and a number of international arms sales embargoes to countries in Africa and the Arab world plunged the once booming industry into a deep crisis in the 1990s.
The majority of production facilities were privatized, but failure to attract foreign investors put them in the hands of small local buyers with limited potential for new investments.
An industry source told AFP on July 5 that Bulgaria still managed to preserve some of its markets in the Middle East, India and Algeria.
The new strategy will aim to keep these traditional arms export partners by forming joint ventures and common research and development projects.
Another major goal was to encourage the Bulgarian army to buy more local defense equipment by developing it to become fully compatible with NATO standards and also engage in collective alliance defense projects from 2018 on.
Bulgaria's defense industry currently employs some 15,000 people and makes up 0.5 percent of the general industry share in the country's gross domestic product, according to the document.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)