During the first week of October, within XIV International Defense Equipment and Services Exhibition HEMUS 2020 in Plovdiv (Bulgaria), the Bilateral Meeting of the Armed Forces Bulgaria-Spain was held, organized by the Armament Policy Directorate (Ministry of Defense Bulgaria), the department NATO and Economic Aspects of Security (Ministry of Economy Bulgaria) and OFICAEX, Directorate General of Armament (DGAM) of the Ministry of Defense of Spain.
This type of Bilateral meetings are included within the international relations programs of the Ministries of Defense and allows the delegations of the Armed Forces of both countries to monitor their programs and collaboration plans, while they strengthen their cooperative relationships.
At this time, the Armament Policy Directorate (Bulgaria) and the DGAM (Spain) selected a group of companies from the defense sector of both countries with the aim of making a presentation of the main capabilities that the Defense Industry of Bulgaria and Spain can provide the Armed Forces, as well as promote the exchange of knowledge and relations between defense companies of both countries.
At the opening of the meeting, the Director of the Armament Policy Directorate, Colonel Vladislav Shekerov, the director of the NATO and Economic Aspects of Security department, Ms. Petia Tsenova, and the Head of OFICAEX (Office of Foreign Support), General Luis López highlighted the commitment of their respective Ministries to continue strengthening cooperation between both countries.
As well as the great opportunity that collaboration between companies of the Defense Industry of Bulgaria and Spain can provide within the framework of the Security and Defense programs promoted by NATO and the European Union through the European Defense Agency (EDA ).
In its introduction of Spanish companies presentation, General López (JOFICAEX), highlighted the international vocation of the Spanish Defense Industry, as well as its willingness to strengthen collaboration ties with both the Bulgarian Armed Forces and with companies of the Bulgarian Defense Industry.
The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economy of Bulgaria selected a total of 12 companies to participate in this Bilateral meeting: ARSENAL, SAMEL – 90 PLC, JOTOV AND SONS, OPTIX, VMZ, ELECTRON PROGRESS, KONTRAX, BIANOR SERVICES, SMARTCOM BULGARIA , CASTRA, AEROGROUP and GLOBAL RTS
On the other hand, the Spanish companies selected to participate in this Bilateral meeting and present their capabilities were: EINSA, ESCRIBANO, EXPAL, GENERAL DYNAMICS SANTA BARBARA, HISDESAT, HISPANO VEMA, I-4S, INDRA and VENTURA DEFENSE.
During his presentation, the Director of Business Development of Hispano Vema, Mr. Rafael Arruga, reviewed current main challenges & hot topics that Specialist CBRN Units have to manage in any Hazmat incident caused by chemical, biological or radiological agents, both in the military and civil perspective.
Furthermore, the Armed Forces demand for new CBRN decontamination technologies to tackle the growing threats of CBRN incidents is driving Defense Industry blueprints. Promoting continuous investment in innovation and new CBRN decontamination systems, which ensure both maximum effectiveness in the decontamination process and minimum response time in any type of scenario and with any type of agent.
In this context, the state-of-the-art CRBN Decontamination Solutions is focusing on mobile and rapid deployment CBRN decontamination stations with multi-role CBRN decontamination capabilities (decontamination of people, vehicles, equipment, materials, land, and electronic equipment).
Rafael Arruga highlighted, on the other hand, the need to have modular and flexible decontamination systems endowments that provide maximum standardization of decontamination capabilities (as a key factor for a minimum response time) and the scalability and versatility in response capabilities to face the wide range of scenarios that a CBRN incident can present.
The concern of the Armed Forces and Security and Emergency Bodies in this regard has led to the development of CBRN Decontamination systems of rapid deployment that are increasingly sophisticated, versatile, and comprehensive, which allow the management of a wide range of Hazmat incidents with minimum response time
Finally, we must highlight Colonel Shekerov (Armament Policy Directorate) and General López (JOFICAEX) comments about the commitment of both delegations to continue strengthening cooperation between Bulgaria and Spain, as well as to continue promoting the collaboration of the Defense Industry of both countries in Security and Defense programs both within the framework of NATO and the European Union.
