Lockheed Martin informed the Bulgarian authorities that it is ready to establish maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Bulgaria, if a deal for the acquisition of F-16 Bloc 70 fighter aircraft is completed. “This means that for each aircraft’s 12,000 hours operational life, Bulgarian F-16s can be maintained in Bulgaria, by Bulgarian engineers and technicians”, says Jim Robinson, F-16 campaign lead in Bulgaria. “Lockheed Martin is also discussing a range of other partnership opportunities with Bulgarian industry and the potential involvement of Bulgarian academician institutions in research and development programmes that will develop the talent in science and engineering that is needed to meet the challenges of the 21^st century”. The Bulgarian authorities have the ambition to complete the negotiations by the end of July this year. Some open issues such as the price of the fighter aircraft and the delivery time still remain.