| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Europe | |
| Bulgaria to buy US arms, ready for US redeployment on its soil | |
| 2003-03-06 | |
Bulgaria is to replace 500 Russian tanks with US-made models and would welcome a move by Washington to base more troops in Bulgaria, Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov told the Dnevnik newspaper on Thursday. "We will replace 500 Russian T-72 tanks which we hope to sell off within two months," he was quoted as saying.
The minister last week accompanied Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg to Washington for talks with US President George Bush. The White House tried to secure the support of Bulgaria, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, for a proposed resolution paving the way for war on Iraq. Svinarov confirmed that Washington also "put out feelers" about sending US troops currently based in Germany, to Bulgaria as part of a redeployment towards eastern Europe with a view to a possible war. Such a step "would be good for the Bulgarian army and economy", he said, adding that "developments in this regard will obviously happen before the end of the year." Svinarov said the defence ministry could earn about 280,000 dollars (307,000 euros) from a base that takes 200 soldiers, he said. The minister said bases at Ravnetz and Novo, in the east, Chabla, on the Black Sea, and at Bezmer, Graf-Ignatievo, and Koren, all in the south, could all accommodate US troops, though the US army could only choose one. The Bulgarian parliament on February 7 authorized the United States to use the Sarafovo airport on the Black Sea for air refueling, as they had during the war in Afghanistan, and two refueling aircraft arrived there this week. The government has said that it is still to decide whether to support the US bid for another resolution against Baghdad, which France, Germany and Russia have vowed to block. Bulgaria has muted its initial strong support for the hardline US position on Iraq but Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday during a visit to Sofia that he had failed to win the former Soviet-era ally over to the anti-war coalition. | |
| Posted by:Dominigo |
| #14 C'mon, Becky! I thought you were an expert! Pull it together! |
| Posted by: Dar Steckelberg 2003-03-06 22:44:23 |
| #13 oh DEAR! How did I post the above here? It was supposed to go under the topic of the good congresswoman from Toledo. Time for bed. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-03-06 20:43:00 |
| #12 And who could forget that Toledo Ohio unselfishly gave us the scale. No springs, honest weight, that's the promise they made, so smile and be thankful next time you get weighed. And here's to the dogs of Toledo Ohio, Congresswoman we bid you farewell. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-03-06 20:36:08 |
| #11 Slightly OT, but who does the real a/c and tank maintenance for the Saudis? Inquiring minds want to know. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-03-06 19:16:01 |
| #10 Saudi Arabia is rolling on M1A2 SEP if I remeber correctly, the sale kept the production line open and Israel screamed bloody murder so we gave them Longbow. Saudi F15s are also more advanced than ours or the Israels. So the Saudis have the best tanks and air superiorty fighters in the world. Better than ours since we only have a few M1A2 SEPs and I believe we cut all funding to upgrade more M1A1s to that level last year. |
| Posted by: Vea Victis 2003-03-06 17:50:40 |
| #9 Yikes. I'd hate to see the shipping charge for a T-72 on ebay. |
| Posted by: Jeremy 2003-03-06 15:40:00 |
| #8 Foreign sales M1 do not have Chobam armor. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-06 13:20:17 |
| #7 I suspect that the electronics and software associated with the domestics and exported configurations is very different. A friend of mine in the defense industry noted that 80% of cost for new weapons systems is software development. |
| Posted by: Domingo 2003-03-06 13:03:21 |
| #6 "We will replace 500 Russian T-72 tanks which we hope to sell off within two months," Uh, who is in the market for 500 T-72s? E-Bay? |
| Posted by: john 2003-03-06 13:01:49 |
| #5 Dar: The Koreans also make an Abrams knock off called the K1. It's basically the same tank minus whatever corners the Koreans cut. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2003-03-06 12:28:30 |
| #4 Egypt has M1A1's with the latest 120mm ammo. AH64s too. :( http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/egypt/m1a1.htm Do the Israelis even have any M1s? I thought that they had all Merkavas. |
| Posted by: Dave 2003-03-06 11:53:21 |
| #3 Opps, according to FAS.org the Israelis use an upgraded M60A3, which looks an awful lot like an Abrams. |
| Posted by: Domingo 2003-03-06 11:43:09 |
| #2 I believe the Israelis use M1A1s. I think there the only one's who do, maybe Japan, Taiwan ? Also, if they are new tanks, 500 hundred is a significant production run, that's not chicken feed, or goat feed either.. |
| Posted by: Domingo 2003-03-06 11:31:36 |
| #1 This doesn't mean Abrams tanks, does it? Do we share them with anyone? Other than that, we certainly wouldn't ship them old M-60s--if they even wanted them! Are we talking just light armor here? |
| Posted by: Dar Steckelberg 2003-03-06 11:19:20 |