July 15,
2008: Seven months ago, French warship
builder DCNS thought it had lost a deal to sell four stealthy Gowind 200
frigates to Bulgaria. They apparently lost the deal to a much cheaper Belgian
offer. France has since sweetened the
offer, and cut the order to two corvettes (with the option to buy two more.)
The
original French offer was seen as a sweet deal for Bulgaria, with most of the
work being done in Bulgaria, and hundreds of Bulgarians technicians getting
specialized training in France. But it was expensive. Each of the 2,000 ton
ships would cost about $380 million. Bulgaria is short of cash. To close the
deal, DCNS offered to cut the price 13 percent.
Then
Belgium came along with a better deal; two Wielingen class frigates (25 year
old, 2,300 ton ships, but in great shape) for about $30 million each. The Dutch
also threw in a modern minesweeper, for a three ship package costing $72
million. Another advantage of this was that Bulgaria had bought a Wielingen
class frigate from Belgium two years ago, and was satisfied with it. Only four
Wielingen class ships were built, and one was scrapped in the 1990s. Thus the
Belgium deal would give the Bulgarians two good-enough frigates, and three from
the same class. Maintenance and training would be simplified. Those three ships
would be adequate for the Black Sea,
where the biggest concern is smugglers, not a major war. The Bulgarians are
going to go through with the three ship Belgian deal as well, in addition to
the two new French ships.
