Bulgaria to purchase Eurocopter Cougars!

Nato newcomer gets off to flier with Eurocopter
Fri 26 Nov 2004

NATO newcomer Bulgaria has chosen Eurocopter, the helicopter division of European aerospace giant EADS, as the winner of a tender to supply it with up to 16 military aircraft.

The deal is one of 11 projects worth an estimated £530 million with which Bulgaria plans to overhaul its once Soviet-allied army to Nato standards after it joined the alliance in March.

A defence ministry commission chose Eurocopter to supply 12 to 16 Cougar EC 725 medium tactical helicopters by 2007 in a deal that should be finalised by the year end, said Kiril Stoichev, director of defence ministry armed forces policy.

“The sum of $150m [£79.8m] is a realistic price, but I can’t give you more details until the deal is finalised,” he added.

United Technologies’ Sikorsky arm and Italian Finmeccanica unit AgustaWestland also competed in the tender.

Mr Stoichev also said that the ministry would decide by December 10 who to contract for the upgrade of Bulgaria’s 36 ageing Mi-17 and Mi-24 transport and attack helicopters.

EADS, UK-based BAE Systems and France’s Sagem are among the companies vying for that deal.