The State Department signed off on a plan final week to promote Bulgaria 183 Stryker fight automobiles, and on Monday the NATO ally’s army chief stated he anticipated lawmakers on Capitol Hill would approve the $1.5 billion deal.

U.S. officers stated the sale will enhance Bulgaria’s capability to quickly deploy infantry items to the battlefield as a way to strengthen its homeland protection and deter regional threats.

“The potential sale has been approved by both the Pentagon and the State Department. On their side, it is yet to reach Congress, because only Congress can make the final decision,” Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev stated, in line with the nation’s Novinite information company. “This is the maximum amount of equipment and the maximum negotiable price in this project.”

The sale contains a number of fashions of the Stryker household of fight automobiles, together with these meant for infantry groups, engineer squads, medical evacuation items, and nuclear, organic and chemical detachments, in line with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which notified Congress of the sale on Monday.

“The proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a NATO ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe,” the DSCA stated in an announcement.

The principal contractor of the deal can be General Dynamics Land Systems of Anniston, Alabama.

“There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale,” the DSCA stated.

Like different international locations within the area, Bulgaria has ramped up its army spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The newest weapons deal is noteworthy as a result of the nation doesn't share a border with Russia or Ukraine. However, Bulgaria has a 230-mile-long shoreline on the Black Sea the place Moscow maintains a large naval presence.

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