Bulgaria's Problematic Cougar Helicopters Unfit for Combat

Commenting on the already problematic deal of the Bulgarian government for the purchase 18 helicopters from Eurocopter, Angelov described the way the defense procurement contract was concluded as “bothering.”

In 2005, the Bulgarian government signed a EUR 383 M deal with Eurocopter for the purchase of 12 Cougar helicopters for the Bulgarian Air Forces and 6 Panther helicopters for the Bulgarian Navy. By the end of 2008, Bulgaria received 9 of the 12 Cougar helicopters and paid EUR 184 M.

Last year it received two more of the helicopters but managed to pay only 40% of their value. The 12th Cougar helicopter was produced by Eurocopter but has not been delivered to Bulgaria, which has not paid any money for it. As a result of the failure of the Bulgarian Defense Ministry to meet its obligations under the contract, in 2009, the French bank Societe General withdrew about BGN 76 M from the deposit.

Last week Angelov explained that Bulgaria stands to lose as much as EUR 240 M (60% of the total sum) as default payments if it fails to reach a settlement with Eurocopter, as it cannot afford to pay the complete sum for all 18 machines.

Speaking before the Army Day Parada on Thursday, however, the Minister pointed out another unfavorable fact – that the helicopters purchased by Bulgaria are not even assault ones and cannot be used in combat operations under their present conditions.

“The Bulgarian Defense Ministry still needs these helicopters and can use them for various humanitarian tasks. In the future, under slightly better circumstances, we will use the opportunities to upgrade them. It should be made publicly clear that in their current form, the helicopters are solely transport helicopters. Of course, they can be used for many purposes but if I am in charge of new helicopter purchases, I will make sure that the helicopters we buy can be used in combat operations immediately,” explained the Minister.

He did express his indignation of the fact that the expensive helicopters will have to be re-equipped in order to be fit for purely military purposes.

“This is one of the public procurement deals of the former government which is investigated by the prosecutors. I don’t know how the contract was made but it is totally unfavorable to Bulgaria,” said Angelov hinting that interest in commission payments might have affected the way the deal was fashioned.

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