SOFIA, Bulgaria, (BulgarianMilitary.com) – Besides the acquisition project for a new infantry fighting vehicle, Bulgaria is about to modernize all the Land Forces’ troops within 12 projects, which are currently under development. This was stated yesterday by the Commander of the Bulgarian Land Forces Major General Mihail Popov, after the completion of the final stage of the shooting competition, which was held at Slivnitsa polygon, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.

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According to his words, these projects are related to the modernization of the engineer and artillery formations; the provision of night vision devices for the servicemen; the provision of utility and logistics, the supply of UAVs as well as of radars for the air and missile defence troops, etc. The Commander of the Bulgarian Land Forces also added the service has taken steps to provide better personal equipment for soldiers. It is expected these programs to be implemented in the next 5 to 7 years, under the “National Plan for Increasing Defence Spending to 2% of the Gross Domestic Product of the Republic of Bulgaria until 2024”.

On the project that attracts the most attention, namely this for the acquisition of a new armored vehicle, Major General Mihail Popov reported that the requests for proposals would be sent by the end of this month. The whole process, involving the submitting of bids, their evaluation and the signing of a contract, is expected to be completed by May 2019.

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Speaking to the media at the yesterday’s event, the Commander of the Land Forces noted that the problems in the Bulgarian army are mainly related to the maintenance of the available equipment and the shortage of military personnel. He expressed confidence that measures taken by the Bulgarian MoD to fill vacancies and to increase military salaries will lead to the end of this shortage tendency.

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Major General Mihail Popov said that the training of the Land Force formations was conducted on schedule, and given the winter conditions, 20 units of the Land Force were ready to help the Bulgarian population.

Yesterday, the Commander of the Bulgarian Land Forces attended the shooting competitions held at Slivnitsa polygon, which marked the start of events for the Day of the Bulgaria’s Land Forces – November 19.

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Source: MoD of the Republic of Bulgaria