Bulgarian Parliament approves purchase of IRIS-T SLM battery

The Bulgarian Parliament approves the purchase of the IRIS-T SLM air defense system.

The Bulgarian news agency reported on this.

The relevant draft law on funding the purchase of the IRIS-T SLM air defense system, proposed by the Defense Committee, was fully supported by the country’s parliament.

In total, funding will be allocated to the purchase of one IRIS-T SLM battery with an option to acquire five additional batteries by 2032.

This type of system is being purchased as part of the European Union’s SkyShield air defense initiative.

The project, which has already been joined by seventeen European countries, aims to reduce costs by coordinating the procurement of air and missile defense systems. It also aims to ensure cooperation in training, maintenance, and logistics.

The cost of this purchase is $199 million. Part of these costs will be funded by compensation received for Bulgaria’s donation of military equipment to Ukraine in 2024.

In addition, the cost of compensation is expected to increase in 2025, as Bulgaria continues to provide military assistance to Ukraine.

Negotiations on the purchase of these systems began on August 22, 2024, when the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense reached an agreement with the German government and Diehl Defense.

They discussed plans to purchase the IRIS-T SLM and the long-range SLX system, of which Bulgaria plans to purchase one battery.

Militarnyi previously reported that the German Armed Forces received the first battery of the IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft missile system.

The system was handed over to the army a year after the adoption of the relevant budget, under which the German Armed Forces had to receive six batteries of the IRIS-T SLM.