The Bulgarian Ministry of Defence (Ministerstvo na otbranata) has awarded Diehl Defence the contract for the main armament of the Bulgarian Navy (Voennomorski sili na Republika Balgariya) MMPV (Multi Mission Patrol Vessel) with the RBS15 anti-ship missile. This makes the Bulgarian Navy already the 8th user of this missile. The MMPVs are being built in Bulgaria by MTG Dolphin JSC as a subcontractor to NVL Group. Bulgaria signed in November a contract with German shipyard Luerssen to build two Multipurpose Modular Patrol Vessels (MMPV) for the Bulgarian Navy. The contract is valued at 984 million levs ($593 million).
Based on the Lürssen OPV-90 design, the two vessels under the project will measure 90m long and displace 2,300t. The MMPV has a length of 90 meters, a beam of 13.5 meters, and a displacement of 2,300 tons. A 76 mm gun, four anti-ship missiles, eight VL-MICA anti-aircraft missiles in vertical launcher cells, a Rheinmetall Millenium close-in weapon station, and lightweight torpedoes are among the weapons. Saab will provide an integrated combat management system. Saab has signed a contract with the German shipbuilding company Lürssen and received an order to provide and integrate the combat system for the Bulgarian Navy’s new Multipurpose Modular Patrol Vessels, MMPV.
The RBS 15 (Robotsystem 15) is a long-range fire-and-forget surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missile. The later version RBS 15 Mk. III has the ability to attack land targets as well. The missile was developed by the Swedish company Saab Bofors Dynamics. Development of the RBS 15 Mk. III began in the mid-1990s. It is produced by Saab. Emphasis was put on increased range (due to larger fuel capacity and new fuel the range has been increased to some 200 km), improved accuracy (integrated GPS) and selectable priority targeting, which improved the weapon system’s flexibility.
In cooperation with its Swedish partner Saab Dynamics, Diehl Defence delivers the anti-ship missile RBS15 Mk3 as the primary armament for the German Navy’s new corvettes of the “Braunschweig” class (K130). The long-range, all-weather capable, fire-and-forget missile is highly maneuverable and extremely resistant to electronic countermeasures. Its special advantage: it is able to engage both sea and land targets. New turbojet engine Microturbo TRI 60-5 with 4.4 kN (990 lbf) of thrust, range over 200 km, with added land attack capability.[8] New warhead (increased penetration and insensitive munitions qualification) from TDW.
