"In a niche between a corvette and a frigate": ships under construction for Bulgaria were without ammunition
When in 2018 the Bulgarian parliament voted for the project of purchasing two modular patrol ships for the needs of the Navy worth almost $ 620 million [to replace the ship of the project 1241.2 Molniya-2 and the frigate 1159], only one deputy drew attention to one "small" detail: none of the companies participating in the tender offered the supply of ammunition.
Almost three years later, it became clear that this "small" detail is likely to cost the Bulgarian taxpayers another $ 250 to 620 million.
- indicated in the local publication "Capital".
The auction was won by the German company Lurssen, part of the money has already been paid, explained Defense Minister Georgy Panayotov:
I personally did not know that the ships were bought without ammunition. They cost a lot.
As noted in the publication, the Bulgarian military has made it a tradition to conceal the costs associated with the acquisition of shells, material and technical support and the need to invest in infrastructure, so as "not to intimidate the public at too high a cost." As a result, Sofia will receive two ships only with ammunition for the cannon, but without torpedoes and missiles - both anti-aircraft and against ships and ground targets.
RBS-15 Mk3
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense has not yet chosen the type of missile weapons. It is assumed that in order to save resources, it will be of the same type for the Navy, Coast Guard, aviation and possibly infantry. According to the author of the material, most likely the patrol ships under construction will receive the RBS-15 Mk3 anti-ship missiles from the Swedish company Saab and the German company Diehl. In fact, due to standardization, the equipment of the entire army depends on this choice, and not only fleet.
Against this background, in 2020, the European defense concern MDBA with the French Exocet and the Norwegian Kongsberg are actively promoting their own Naval Strike Missile (NSM) system. In particular, it is proposed to purchase both a new version of the NSM and older ammunition from the arsenal of the Norwegian army, which have a 20-year remaining service life.
But the contract with the German shipbuilder delegated him the right to independently choose the armament of ships and, in view of close ties with Saab and Diehl, the scales tilt in favor of the RBS-15 Mk3.
We didn't buy boats for walking
- says Admiral Emil Eftimov from the Navy, explaining that the deal is extremely profitable in terms of cost.
In his words, the chosen project is actually located in a niche between a large corvette and a small frigate. Before the arrival of the first ship in 2025, it will become clear how to equip it and where and how much to finance the purchase of ammunition. However, the Ministry of Defense fears that the decision to replace missile weapons will lead to an increase in the cost of building ships.
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