Illustrative title card. ISC open-source assessment, 27 July 2026. A sourced image will accompany the published edition where a rights-clean depiction is available.

Bulgaria's RPG-7 Ammunition Base Behind NSPA's TB-7V and OG-7V Tender

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has signalled a two-line buy of 5,718 TB-7V thermobaric and 8,000 OG-7V high-explosive fragmentation rounds for the RPG-7 through Future Business Opportunity 26LBS057. The primary NATO Stock Numbers carry country code 50, Bulgaria, and Bulgarian producers VMZ Sopot, Arsenal, Arcus and Armaco catalogue exactly these rounds, making Bulgaria the realistic source base.

Technical Summary

Future Business Opportunity (FBO) 26LBS057 is an early market signal, not a solicitation. It sets out two line items used on the RPG-7 and RPG-7V shoulder-fired recoilless weapon. Line 10 is the CART, TB-7V, THERMOBARIC, listed against NATO Stock Number (NSN) 1310-50-001-4779, or alternatively 1310-16-006-7995, with an estimated quantity of 5,718. Line 20 is the CART, OG-7V, HE-FRAG, listed against NSN 1310-50-000-1557, with an estimated quantity of 8,000. The tentative Request for Proposal (RFP) date is 18 August 2026, and the stated Quality Assurance level is AQAP-2131.

The NSN itself tells the sourcing story. All three numbers sit in Federal Supply Class (FSC) 1310, ammunition over 30 mm up to 75 mm. The two-digit group after the FSC is the National Codification Bureau (NCB) code that assigned the number. Code 50 is Bulgaria, so the primary TB-7V and OG-7V numbers were codified by Bulgaria. The single alternative code, 16, is the Czech Republic. Both are on the FBO list of 26 authorised supplier countries, which also includes Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom, among others.

The primary stock numbers for both the thermobaric and the fragmentation round carry National Codification Bureau code 50, Bulgaria. The Bulgarian ammunition base is not one candidate among many here. It is the reference source. ISC assessment of NSPA FBO 26LBS057

Analysis of Effects

The two rounds cover different target sets, which is why NSPA is buying both. The TB-7V is a thermobaric, or enhanced-blast, round intended for troops in the open, in trenches and field shelters, and inside masonry or light structures. VMZ Sopot lists a 93 mm warhead calibre on a 40 mm launch system, a round mass of 4.39 kilograms, a fuzed grenade mass of 4.0 kilograms and a 0.39 kilogram propellant charge. Muzzle velocity is a deliberately low 67 metres per second, direct-fire range is 165 metres and stated effective range is 1,200 metres. The low velocity and large warhead are consistent with a payload-heavy blast weapon rather than a penetrator. The Bulgarian TB-7V is a distinct national design and is not identical to the larger-calibre Russian TBG-7V.

The OG-7V is a 40 mm high-explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG) round for troops in the open. VMZ Sopot lists a round mass of 1.73 kilograms, a grenade mass of 1.35 kilograms and a 0.375 kilogram propellant charge, with a muzzle velocity of 152 metres per second, direct-fire range of 170 metres and a maximum range of 1,000 metres. The manufacturer states that the round throws more than 850 fragments of about 0.9 grams average mass. Both rounds are qualified across a temperature band of minus 40 to plus 50 degrees Celsius, and both ship in wooden cases, six rounds per case for the TB-7V and 24 for the OG-7V.

Bulgarian coverage of these designations is broad, not narrow. VMZ Sopot (Vazovski Mashinostroitelni Zavodi EAD), the largest state-owned ammunition enterprise, catalogues both the TB-7V and the OG-7V. BIEM lists the round as "ROUND TB-7V WITH TB-7 THERMOBARIC GRENADE, NSN: 1310-50-001-4779", carrying the exact stock number from the FBO. Arsenal JSCo of Kazanlak markets the thermobaric family as the RTB-7MA and RTB-7LDMA and the fragmentation family as the OGi-7MA. Arcus JSC offers a 40 mm OG-7V HE-FRAG grenade as the AR-7V, and Armaco JSC lists the OG-7V, the OFG-7V and the improved OG-7VE. Related thermobaric variants in the GTB-7 family are traded through the state house Kintex. The designations and the stock numbers converge on a single national base.

Personnel and Safety Considerations

For an ammunition technician or storage licensing authority, the load-bearing gap is the absence of published hazard data. Neither manufacturer catalogue states the Hazard Division and Compatibility Group for the packaged round, nor the NEQ that drives quantity-distance separation and net explosive limits per storehouse. A rocket-propelled round with a separate propellant charge and an explosive-filled warhead will normally attract a mass-explosion or mass-fire classification, but the specific division must be read from the qualified technical data package and the national approval, not inferred. The fuze state, the fuze type and the safety-and-arming sequence are likewise not in open sources. Any recipient nation would confirm these against its own explosives safety regime before storage, and NSPA would expect the qualification evidence inside the eventual proposal.

Data Gaps

The following are not established from open sources and are flagged rather than asserted: Hazard Division and Compatibility Group for each packaged round; NEQ in kilograms of TNT equivalent for the thermobaric and the fragmentation fills; the specific energetic formulation of the TB-7 thermobaric charge and the OG-7 bursting charge; fuze type and armed-state behaviour; the identity of the alternative Czech-codified TB-7V source behind NSN 1310-16-006-7995; and the final field of authorised bidders, since an FBO precedes rather than sets the competition.

Corrections & updates welcome. If you hold open-source data that refines or corrects any parameter in this article, please contact [email protected] citing the specific claim and your source. Verified corrections will be incorporated and credited in the revision history. AI-assisted technical assessment based on open-source material. Not a formal intelligence product.