US Bases in Bulgaria

The Global Air Traffic Operations / Mobility Command and Control Foreign Military Sales Office is supporting Bulgarian initiatives for establishing NATO interoperability. Currently, the GATO/MC2 FMS Program Office is providing support for the upgrade of two military airfields (Graf Ignatievo and Bezmer) in Bulgaria.

The US Government (USG) objective is to produce, test, and deliver to the Bulgarian Air Force (BUAF), one (1) Mobile TACAN system, to include electronics, outfitted shelter, antenna and all necessary cabling and interconnects. A two-year warranty was provided. Site-consumable and organization-level spares, spare modules/LRUs, and any necessary test equipment were provided. Technical manuals were provided with the system. The Contractor performed a Site Survey, at the Graf Ignatievo Airbase, near Plovdiv, in support of system installation and deployment. The Contractor worked and collaborated with the BUAF to determine any site restrictions and constraints, and identify optimum location for the deployment of the Mobile TACAN.

There is legacy navigational aid equipment presently located at Graf Ignatievo Airbase. Site location for the Mobile TACAN took account of potential mutual interference. The Mobile TACAN supported non-precision instrument approaches to both ends of the runway and local operating areas. The US Government (USG) objective was to produce, test, and deliver to the Bulgarian Air Force (BUAF), one (1) Mobile Ground Control Approach (GCA) system, to include electronics, outfitted operations shelter, antenna and all necessary cabling and interconnects. The Mobile GCA system included Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR), Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR), Precision Approach Radar (PAR) and, UHF/VHF radio communications.

The US Government (USG) objective was to produce, test, and deliver to the Bulgarian Air Force (BUAF), one (1) Approach Lighting System (ALS) as specified herein. A two-year warranty was provided. Site-consumable spares and organization-level spares, spare modules/LRUs, and any necessary test equipment was provided. Technical manuals were provided with the system. The Contractor performed a Site Survey, at Bezmer Airbase, in support of system installation and deployment. The Contractor shipped the ALS to a designated site in Bulgaria and provide technical assistance to Bulgarian self-installation and checkout (I&CO).

The Contractor conducted a detailed Site Survey at the Bezmer Airbase. The Contractor worked and collaborated with the BUAF to determine any site restrictions or constraints, and identify the optimum sites for locating the ALS components. There are legacy lighting components located on or near the airbase. The ALS is intended to replace any such legacy lighting. The ALS consisted of a Category II Approach Lighting system for the primary approach direction at the Bezmer Airbase and a Simplified Approach Lighting System for the opposite direction on the same runway. The ALS was in accordance with STANAG 3316, Airfield Lighting. The ALS Category II direction provided Runway High Intensity sequenced flashing approach lighting, runway edge lighting, High Intensity Runway Centerline Lighting, bi-directional runway end lights, and approach zone side barrettes.

The National Military Command Center (NMCC) System is being procured under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program on behalf of the Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria. The NMCC System will be installed in a prepared facility within the Ministry of Defense Building #2 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Bulgaria is responsible for providing the structure, plumbing, heating, cooling, painting, electrical power, lighting, and other common facility requirements. Contractor provided all services, equipment, and facilities to engineer, produce, install, integrate, test, train, sustain and provide warranties. The NMCC Program consists of three elements: 1) the delivery and installation of hardware and software for the NMCC System, 2) training for Bulgarian personnel on the operation and maintenance of the NMCC System, and 3) on-site and off-site technical support for the NMCC System.

The National Military Command Center [NMCC] System consists of computer hardware and software that operates at a Secure level (Bulgarian classification level) as a military planning and execution system for the Bulgarian Armed Forces. Specifically, the Bulgarian General Staff will use the NMCC System to manage and control military assets in response to military and civil crisis situations by supporting situational awareness and deliberate and crisis action planning. The NMCC System is intended to be a major component of a national military command center. The NMCC System's Common Operational Picture (COP) merges data from multiple sources as identified in the SRD on a geospatial display to provide senior military leaders the situational awareness needed to be able to act and react decisively. The NMCC System also provides a suite of integrated office automation, messaging, and collaborative applications. The NMCC System provides commanders one predominant source for generating, receiving, sharing, disbursing and using information securely. The NMCC System enables commanders flexibility to plan, execute and manage military activities required to operate within a wide range of operations eg: actual combat, humanitarian assistance, military support for civil emergencies.