Defense industry of Bulgaria

Bulgaria is NATO member country with a large indigenous defence industry. Most of its weaponry is of Soviet design, but with significantly improved performance. Bulgaria is ranked as a "medium" small arms exporter according to the Small Arms Survey.^[1]

History

Despite having local arms factories, until 1944 Bulgaria relied mostly on imports to equip its military. Nevertheless, the Bulgarian defence industry was capable of producing training and light attack aircraft, such as the DAR-10 and Laz-7. After the installment of a Communist government the same year, the country started a process of massive industrialization, but continued to import equipment. By the 1980s a large part of the equipment came from local suppliers. In the late 1980s exports reached about $800 mln. annually, trade partners being mostly Egypt, Algeria, Angola, North Korea, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Cuba and Vietnam.

Manufacturers

• Arsenal AD^[2] - oldest weapons manufacturer (est. 1878), largest machine-building company in the country; produces pistols, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, light machine guns, machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, air-defense systems, anti-tank grenade launchers, automatic grenade launchers, ammunition for small arms, artillery rounds, bombs, anti-tank weapons ammunition, unguided rockets and others;
• TEREM^[3] - mostly ammunition and spares;
• VMZ Sopot^[4] - anti-tank guided and unguided missiles, aviation unguided missiles and artillery ammunition;
• Samel 90^[5] - communication equipment, surface-to-air missiles and others;
• Armstechno - drones and UAVs;
• Apolo GmbH^[6] - uniforms;
• State military technology institute

Products

Small arms

• AR series - AR-M1 assault rifle and others. The basic AR-M1 is chambered in 5.45x39 mm, has a 600 rpm rate of fire, 900 m/sec muzzle velocity, nearly 600 g lighter than the original AK-74 (loaded weight), somewhat more durable, a rail for an optical or reflex sights.
• AKS-74u assault rifle
• Arsenal Shipka submachine gun
• LMG light machine gun
• MG-M1 general purpose machine gun
• Arcus 98DA pistol
• Makarov PM pistol

Artillery

• Mortars - 60-120 mm
• 2S12 Tundzha SP mortars (two variants - 82 and 120 mm)
• 2S1 Karamfil SP howitzers

Air defence equipment

• SA-7B Grail MANPADS
• SA-14 Gremlin MANPADS
• SA-16 Gimlet MANPADS
• SA-18 Grouse MANPADS

Anti-tank weapons

• SPG-9DNM recoilless rifle
• RPG-7 grenade launcher
• RPG-22 one-shot disposable rocket launcher (issued as a round of ammunition)
• AT-3 Sagger ATGM
• AT-4 Spigot ATGM
• AT-5 Spandrel ATGM

Armored vehicles

A Bulgarian-made MT-LB used by the USMC

• MT-LB in different versions
• BMP-23
• BTR-60:
• BTR-60PAU - Artillery command variant of the BTR-60PA with 4 whip antennas.
• BTR-60PB with Polish WAT turret from SKOT-2AP. Only a prototype was made.
• BTR-60PB-MD (bronyetransport’or moderniziran) - BTR-60PB upgraded with VAMO DT3900 or Rover TD-200 diesel engine, four MB smoke grenade dischargers on the turret (two on each side), "Melopa" night sight, new day sight, new NBC protection system and modern radios. It also has a rear view mirror on the left hand side of the hull. Only a prototype was made.
  • BTR-60PB-MD1 - Version for the Bulgarian army, powered by a Cummins ISB 25.30 turbocharged Euro 3 diesel engine of 250 hp and fitted with side hatches. About 150 in service.
  • BTR-60PB-MD3 - export model, fitted with a KamAZ diesel engine, different sights and eight additional smoke grenade launchers in the front right corner of the hull. The prototype, shown in 2004, was based on a BTR-60PA.

Missiles and rockets

• Rockets for BM-21
• S-5 rocket

Ammunition

• Starshel ECM round
• RPG rounds
• 5.45, 5.56, 7.62, 9, 12.7, 14.5, 23, 40, 57, 60, 73, 81, 82, 100, 120, 122, 125, 130, 152 mm ammunition

Other

• Armstechno NITI drone
• Armstechno Dulo UCAV
• jammers for remotely detonated bombs
• UBGL-1 underbarrel grenade launcher in different variants
• handheld radios
• guidance systems for missiles
• avionics for aircraft
• uniforms and helmets
• optical instruments
• night vision equipment

Customers

•  Afghanistan
•  Algeria
•  Angola
•  Chad
•  Chile
•  People's Republic of China
•  Republic of the Congo^[7]
•  Eritrea
•  Ethiopia
•  Finland
•  Georgia
•  Greece
•  Guinea
•  India
•  Iraq
•  Jordan
•  Lebanon
•  Macedonia
•  Mauritania
•  Mali
•  Nepal
•  Poland
•  Rwanda ^[7]
•  Sweden
•  United Arab Emirates
•  Vietnam
•  Yemen

References

1. ^ Small Arms Survey 2011: States of Security. Oxford University Press. 2011. p. 3. http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2011/en/Small-Arms-Survey-2011-Chapter-01-Annexes-1.1-1.2-EN.pdf. 
2. ^ "ARSENAL Home Page". Arsenal.bg. http://arsenal.bg. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
3. ^ "ТЕРЕМ - Българските военноремонтни заводи". Terem.bg. http://terem.bg. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
4. ^ "VMZ Co". Vmz.bg. http://vmz.bg. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
5. ^ "Samel 90". Samel 90. http://samel90.com. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
6. ^ http://apolo.bg
7. ^ ^{a b} "“Ер Франс” закарала БГ картечници в Конго". trud.bg. http://www.trud.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=549317. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 

External links

• Arsenal Corporation
• TEREM
• Samel90
• Apolo