MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's MIG aircraft corporation has won the contract for modernization of MIG-29 Fulcrum fighters in the inventory of the Bulgarian Air Force, a competent source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax- Military News Agency on Tuesday.
A general agreement on restoration of the Bulgarian MIG-29 fighters was signed in Sofia earlier in the day, the spokesman said.
MIG will handle comprehensive modernization of the fighters and get a possibility to provide a broad range of services to the Bulgarian Air Force. They include restoration of fighters, extension of aircraft's service lives and organization of spare parts supplies.
According to some sources, the Bulgarian Air Force operates 21 MIG-29 fighters.
Earlier Bulgarian Economy Minister Nikolai Vasilev told Interfax-AVN that the Bulgarian government was getting ready to propose serious programs in the sphere of military-technical cooperation to Russia for discussion in the near future.
The General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces has said that minor modernization of the MIG-29 fighters will be the first stage of their capital repairs and restoration. The modernization provides for making changes to the navigation communication systems with a goal to ensure compatibility of the on-board equipment with NATO standards.