Ten NATO member states including Bulgaria plus Sweden and Finland signed Thursday an agreement for the joint purchase of three military transport planes Boeing C-17 Globemaster, the US plane manufacturer announced.

Apart from Bulgaria, and the non-NATO states Sweden and Finland, the countries participating in the joint deal are Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Norway, and the USA.

The planes will be used for NATO’s missions in Afghanistan and elsewhere as well as for military missions of the EU and the individual nations participating in the deal, and of the UN.

Each of the participating states is going to pay part of the price. One of the C-17 military transport planes costs about USD 200 M.

The first plane is expected to be delivered in the spring of 2009 but the exact details of the deal are still being negotiated.

Two of the planes will come directly from the manufacturer Boeing, whereas the third will be supplied by the US Air Force.