List of modern equipment of the Bulgarian land forces

This is a list of some of the equipment currently in use by the Bulgarian Land Forces.

This article is about weapons and equipment. For detailed information on history and deployment, see Bulgarian Land Forces.

Small arms

Sidearms
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
Makarov Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Handgun9×18mmLocal production and standard issue to army. Copy pistols were produced since 1960. Arsenal 10 produced them between 1970 and 2007. Can be recognised through "((10))" arsenal markings, straight hammer serrations, slim star grip shells.[1]
SIG Pro GermanyHandgun9×19mm ParabellumUsed by Bulgarian Military Police
Arcus 98DA Belgium
 Bulgaria		Handgun9×19mm Parabellum

Assault rifles
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
AKM Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Assault rifle7.62×39mmProduced locally and in reserve.[1][2]
AR-M1 BulgariaAssault rifle5.56×45mm NATOStandard issue infantry rifle of the Bulgarian Army and (variation of AK-74) and AKS-74U are manufactured locally.[3]
AR-M4SF BulgariaAssault rifle5.56×45mmCarbine rifle by Arsenal JSCo (Special Forces)
Heckler & Koch G36 GermanyAssault rifle5.56×45mm NATOStandard assault rifle of Military Police
Steyr AUG AustriaAssault rifle5.56×45mm NATOSpecial forces only. In limited use with the SOBT

Submachine guns
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
Arsenal Shipka BulgariaSubmachine gun9×18mm Makarov
9×19mm Parabellum		Standard issue submachine gun of army.
Heckler & Koch MP5 West GermanySubmachine gun9×19mm ParabellumUsed by Bulgarian Special Forces and Military Police.
FB PM-63 PolandSubmachine gun9×18mm MakarovUsed by Bulgarian Special Forces.
AKS-74U Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Personal defense weapon5.45×39mmUsed by Bulgarian Military police

Sniper rifles
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
Dragunov sniper rifle Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Semi-automatic sniper rifle, designated marksman rifle7.62×54mmRLocal production[1]
Heckler & Koch PSG1 GermanySemi-automatic sniper rifle7.62×51mm NATOPSG-1A1 variates and used by Military Police of Bulgarian Land Forces.
Heckler & Koch MSG90 GermanySniper rifle7.62×51mm NATO
Blaser R93 Tactical GermanySniper rifle7.62×51mm NATO
Barrett M82 United StatesAnti-materiel rifle.50 BMGUsed by Bulgarian Special Forces

Machine guns
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
RPK Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Light machine gun
Squad automatic weapon		7.62×39mm M43Produced by Arsenal as the LMG in three different calibers, 7.62×39mm, 5.45×39mm and 5.56×45mm NATO. A folding stock variant is known as the LMG-F.[1][4][5][6]
PK Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Universal machine gun7.62×54mmRUsed by Special forces and Regular units, Produced locally. PK/PKM copies were produced as the MG-1 & MG-1M.[1][7]
NSV BulgariaHeavy machine gun12.7×108mmStandard issue heavy machine gun of the Bulgarian Army and Produced by Arsenal [8]

Anti-tank weapons
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
RPG-22 Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Light anti-tank weaponHigh-explosive anti-tank with penetration of 400 mm versus RHABulgarian Army, local production at VMZ Sopot.[9]
RPG-7 Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Rocket-propelled grenade launcher40 mmProduced locally by Arsenal Corporation as ATGL-L.[10]
SPG-9 Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Recoilless gun
Anti-tank gun		73 mm (2.87 in) smoothbore[11]SPG-9DNM (local production)

Mortars
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
M6-211 Mortar BulgariaLight mortar60mmProduced locally
M8 Mortar BulgariaMedium mortar81mmProduced locally
M82 Soviet UnionMedium mortar82mm[12]
2S12 Sani Soviet UnionHeavy mortar120mm[12]

Other small arms
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
FN 303 United StatesSemi-automatic less-lethal riot gun17.3 mm (0.68 in)In use with the Land Forces and the Military Police.[13]
GP-25 Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Grenade launcher40mm caseless grenadeMade under license by Arsenal AD as the UBGL[14] and the UBGL-1.[15]
UBGL-M6 BulgariaGrenade launcher40mm caseless grenadeUnderbarrel grenade launcher by Arsenal JSCo.
UBGL-M7 BulgariaGrenade launcher40mm caseless grenadeUnderbarrel grenade launcher by Arsenal JSCo.
AGS-30 BulgariaAutomatic grenade launcher35mm grenade30×25mm grenade launchers, AGS-17 derivate by Arsenal JSCo
Mk 19 grenade launcher United StatesAutomatic grenade launcher40 mm grenade

Anti-tank guided missiles
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
AT-3 Sagger Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Anti-tank missileHigh-explosive anti-tankProduced locally and in reserve.
AT-4 Spigot Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Anti-tank missileHigh-explosive anti-tank warheadProduced locally.
AT-5 Spandrel Soviet UnionAnti-tank missile9N131 high-explosive anti-tankProduced locally
AT-6 Spiral Soviet UnionAnti-tank missileHigh-explosive anti-tank shaped charge
AT-7 Saxhorn Soviet UnionAnti-tank missileHigh-explosive anti-tank shaped charge
AT-12 Swinger Soviet UnionLaser beam riding anti-tank missile100 mm projectile

Man-portable air defense systems
Model Image Origin Type Caliber Notes
SA-7 Grail Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Man portable surface-to-air missile launcher1.15 kg directed-energy blast fragmentation warhead (Strela-2M), 370 g HE contentProduced locally and in reserve.
SA-14 Gremlin Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Man-portable air-defense systems1.15 kg directed-energy blast fragmentation warhead (Strela-2M), 370 g HE contentProduced locally and in reserve.
SA-16 Gimlet Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Man-portable air-defense systems1.17 kg (2.6 lb) with 390 g (14 oz) explosiveProduced locally
SA-18 Grouse Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		Man-portable air-defense systems1.17 kg (2.6 lb) with 390 g (14 oz) explosiveProduced locally

Armoured vehicles
Name Origin Type Number Photo Notes
Armoured fighting vehicles
T-72A/M2  Soviet Union
 Bulgaria[16]		 Main battle tank 160 (+250 in storage)[12]
Indigenous tank design, based on the Russian T-72M1.[16][12]
BMP-23/30  Bulgaria Infantry fighting vehicle 100[12] Locally designed infantry fighting vehicle with a 23-mm automatic cannon, 9K111 Fagot anti-tank guided missile launchers with a total of six missiles and an SA-7 Grail man-portable air-defense systems.
BMP-1P  Soviet Union Infantry fighting vehicle 100[12] Soviet tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicle with a 73-mm smoothbore gun.
BTR-60PB  Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		 Armoured personnel carrier 150[12] ~150 are modernised to the BTR-60PB-MD1 standards.In reserve , over 600.
MT-LB / MT-LBu  Soviet Union
 Bulgaria		 Armoured personnel carrier 100[12] In reserve, over 500 in store in different states of availability. Light multi-purpose vehicle; mostly used as an armoured personnel carrier
BRDM-2  Soviet Union Scout car 74[12] Armoured scout car
9P148 "Konkurs"  Soviet Union Anti-tank vehicle 24 Anti-tank vehicle based around the BRDM-2 with five AT-5 Spandrel missiles
M1117  United States Patrol vehicle 17[12] 4x4 multi-purpose armoured patrol vehicle
UAZ-469  Soviet Union Patrol vehicle 700 Off-road military light utility vehicle
Plasan Sand Cat  Israel Patrol vehicle 25[17] 4x4 armoured patrol vehicle used by the Military Police service
Mercedes-Benz G-Class  Germany Armoured jeep 900[12] A contract has been signed with Germany to raise the number up to 300.4x4 armoured G 280 CDi and non-armoured G 270 CDi jeep; partially armed with locally produced PKM machine guns
Mercedes-Benz Zetros  Germany Off-road truck for extreme operations 335[12] As of 2012, it operates 335 trucks with 30 more on order

Artillery and air defense

.

Name Origin Type Number Photo Notes
Artillery
MT-12  Soviet Union Anti-tank gun 200 100-mm anti-tank gun, now used mostly as conventional HE artillery
D-20  Soviet Union Howitzer 150 152-mm towed howitzer; principal heavy artillery piece of the Bulgarian Army
2S1 Gvozdika  Bulgaria Self-propelled howitzer 506[12] 122-mm self-propelled howitzer; produced locally as Karamfil;
BM-21  Soviet Union Multiple rocket launcher 192[12] 122-mm multiple-launch rocket system; majority in-store.
SS-21 Scarab-A  Soviet Union Tactical ballistic missile 18 The only remaining ballistic missile system from the now-disbanded Rocket Forces; 8 TELs and a classified quantity of missiles are in service.
Air defense
ZU-23-2  Soviet Union AA gun 128 Most ZU-23-2s in Bulgarian service are mounted on ZIL-131 trucks.
SA-8 Gecko  Soviet Union Surface-to-air missile system 24[12] Highly mobile short-range surface-to-air missile system with 15 km range
SA-13 Gopher  Soviet Union Surface-to-air missile system 20 Short-range battlefield surface-to-air missile system with 5 km range
S-300  Soviet Union Surface-to-air missile system 10[12] Ten S-300 launchers, divided into two units with five launchers each.
2K12 Kub  Soviet Union Surface-to-air missile system 20[12] Mobile surface-to-air missile system is a Soviet low to medium-level air defense system designed to protect ground forces from air attack.
S-200  Soviet Union Surface-to-air missile system 10[12]
S-125 Neva/Pechora  Soviet Union Surface-to-air missile system 32[12]

Retired equipment
  • PT-76 amphibious tanks (250)
  • T-62 tanks (250, sold to Ethiopia, Yemen and Angola)
  • TV-62
  • TV-62M
  • T-55AM2 tanks (1,400 kept in storage in the province of Montana)
  • T-34 tanks (177, some sold to Mali and other African countries; 42 kept in storage near the village of Ohrid, Bulgaria; some are used as anti-tank weapons targets; the rest of the tanks were scrapped)
  • BRDM-1
  • BTR-152
  • BTR-40
  • BTR-50PU
  • SS-23 (8 launchers + 24 missiles, destroyed)
  • FROG-7 (24 launchers + dozens of missiles, destroyed)
  • Scud-B (36 launchers + dozens of missiles, destroyed)
  • AT-1 Snapper anti-tank guided missiles
  • BM-13 multiple rocket launchers

See also

References
  1. Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
  2. Personal infantry weapons: old weapons or new hardware in the coming decades? – Free Online Library. Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved on 2014-04-20.
  3. "Defense & Security Intelligence & Analysis: IHS Jane's – IHS". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  4. "Arsenal's LMG Page, 7.62×39mm". Arsenal. Archived from the original on 2002-11-11. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  5. "Arsenal's LMG Page, 5.56×45mm". Arsenal. Archived from the original on 2003-02-25. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  6. "Arsenal's LMG Page, 5.45×39mm". Arsenal. Archived from the original on 2002-11-11. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  7. "G3 Defence Magazine August 2010". calameo.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  8. "12,7 mm Arsenal Multi-purpose Machine Gun MG-U". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  9. "RPG-22 NETTO". VMZ Sopot Official Website. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  10. ATGL-L anti-tank grenade launcher Archived 2010-08-21 at the Wayback Machine, arsenal.bg
  11. OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide, TRADOC DCSINT Threat Support Directorate, January 21, 1999
  12. "Bulgarian Defense Information". European Defense Information. Armed Forces.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  13. Армията се въоръжи и с газови пистолети Archived 2006-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, Segabg, 30 June 2006
  14. Arsenal Corporation. "Arsenal 40 mm Underbarrel Grenade Launcher UBGL". Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  15. Arsenal Corporation. "Arsenal 40 mm Underbarrel Grenade Launcher UBGL-1". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  16. "Bulgarian Military". Mediafire.com. 2013-11-17. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
  • or The download link(s) to details of Bulgaria's military equipment, including the reserve as of 2013. Note: some of the reserve items are not listed on this page, such as the 430 T55's in reserve status.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.