According to the BTA news agency, the Bulgarian parliament endorsed a $1.5 billion deal on Thursday to procure Stryker fighting vehicles from the United States, a move aimed at modernizing the nation’s military and aligning it with NATO standards.
The approval of the purchase of 183 Stryker vehicles, previously sanctioned by the government in September, garnered the support of 134 deputies in the 240-seat parliament.
Manufactured by General Dynamic Land Systems in Canada for the United States military, the Stryker is a versatile family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles that can accommodate infantry and employ diverse weapons, engineering, and electronic systems in various configurations.
The Stryker-based vehicles are currently in use by seven countries, including the United States and Ukraine, which has received 189 of them since March.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Bulgaria, a former Soviet bloc member that subsequently joined the EU and NATO, intensified its efforts to replace outdated Soviet-built weaponry with contemporary systems.
Positioned strategically on NATO’s eastern flank as a Black Sea nation, Bulgaria has provided weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.
