Russia warns Bulgaria over MiG deal

RSK MiG has sent a letter of protest to the Bulgarian Parliaments Defense Committee after Poland was selected to do upgrade work on the Bulgarian MiG-29s. RSK MiG is claiming that Poland is not fully authorized to work on the aircraft. The head of the Committee also says that the country needs to not break ties with the Russian military complex, and Russia should do the work.

The Defense Minister says that the Polish upgrade offer was two times lower than the Russian offer. They would save $14M by going through Poland instead of Russia. The work would be performed at WZL 2 Bydgoszcz and WZL 4 Warsaw.

WARSAW — RSK MiG, manufacturer of the MiG-29 fighter jet, has sent a letter of protest to the Bulgarian Parliament's Defense Committee after Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev and his Polish counterpart, Tomasz Siemoniak, signed a letter of intent under which six of Bulgaria’s MiG-29s would be modernized and serviced by Polish state-run plants, reports local news agency Novinite.

In the letter, the Russian manufacturer warned Sofia against performing aircraft maintenance activities in Poland, as RSK MiG claims that Polish defense companies are not officially authorized to repair MiG fighter jets.

Nenchev has responded to the claim by saying that Poland’s offer was "two times lower" than what Sofia was offered by Russia. By signing a contract with Polish defense companies, Bulgaria will save up to 24 million leva (US $14 million), Nenchev said.

www.defensenews.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

I wonder if Canada and the F35 would fall into the same kind of conflict in the maintenance dept. OEM parts seem to have a better quality in some cases but are usually more $$ plus the cost of labour is always higher at the dealer . Could end up voiding some of the warranty .. just sayin

a reply to: Zaphod58

I assume that's linked to this that popped up earlier?

www.novinite.com...'Renouncing+Its+Air+Force,'+RIA+Novosti+Says?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter




Link seems to have failed...

a reply to: solidshot

Bulgaria is almost desperate to build its military. They need to, fast. Their financial issues have caused problems for their air force.

Didn't Polska rebuild their 29's to be compatible with NATO munitions and such? Not sure about the radar but I do recall the Migs flying alongside someone operating typhoons during a turn at Baltic air policing. If I were Bulgaria, I'd trust the Poles more than the Russians. I know from experience with Russian built locomotives(in Poland) that they were pretty much made to fall apart. Of course, that meant you had to hire an army of mechanics. Communism in action!