By means of CM Decision of January 24th, the Council of Ministers authorised the implementation of joint (enhanced) Air Policing mission in the airspace of the Republic of Bulgaria by the Bulgarian and the Spanish Air Forces. The mission will be implemented in pursuance of the Assurance Measures aimed at providing assurance to nations on NATO’s Eastern Flank. It will be carried out in compliance with the plans and procedures of the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS). In the implementation of the joint Air Policing tasks, priority will be given to the use of the Bulgarian Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) fighter aircraft.

For the purposes of the joint (enhanced) Air Policing mission, the Air Force of the Kingdom of Spain will deploy 130 servicemen and 4 Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon aircraft. The Air Policing tasks will be performed until March 31st, 2022. The first Spanish fighters will land at Graf Ignatievo Air Base by the end of the week.

The Spanish aircraft will be assigned tasks such as Combat Air Patrol (CAP), Interception, Visual Identification (V-ID), and Shadow. The Bulgarian Air Force will continue implementing their national commitments with regard to conducting Quick Reaction Alert duty under the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS).

The Air Policing of NATO airspace is a peacetime collective defence mission. Its purpose is to ensure preserving the integrity, safety, and security of the airspace of the Allies. Participation in such joint missions enhances the Air Force capabilities to safeguard the integrity of Allied airspace on NATO’s Eastern Flank.

Decisions to ensure the security of Allies in Eastern Europe were taken by the Heads of State and Government of the Member States at the NATO Summits in Wales in 2014 and in Warsaw in 2016. One of these decisions is to strengthen the airspace of the Eastern Flank member states with Allied forces on a rotational basis. The Bulgarian Air Force has jointly performed Air Policing tasks in 2014 and 2016 with forces and assets from the US Air Force and in 2017 - with forces and assets from the Air Force of the Italian Republic. Since 2012, the Bulgarian Air Force has carried out a significant number of cross-border operations with the Romanian Air Force.

Graf Ignatievo Air Base hosts the flight training “Castle Forge – 2021” that begins today, 18 October 2021, with the participation of the Air Force and the Land Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria, and forces of the 336th Combat Squadron of 4th Combat Wing of the US Air Force from the state of North Carolina.

“For 16 years, since 2006, Graf Ignatievo Air Base has hosted more than 20 Bulgarian-American flight exercises with the participation of forces and assets of the US Air Force in Europe and formations of the US National Guard”, declared Brigadier General Nikolay Rusev, Commander of Graf Ignatievo Air Base. He added: “This flight training is another step forward in the development of our fruitful cooperation which has led to real results that raise the level of interoperability, improve the flight training of Bulgarian crews as well as the development of standard operational procedures, techniques and tactics in line with NATO standards“. General Rusev wished all participants successful implementation of the joint tasks.

Major Bronco Mangano, Deputy Commander of the US participants for the period of the flight training, thanked for the hospitality of the Bulgarian side and confirmed that by flying together the military units of the Bulgarian and the US Air Force enhance their partnership and their contribution to NATO’s collective defence.

This is the first relocation of personnel and equipment from Seymour Johnson Air Base on the territory of Bulgaria with which MiG-29 fighters and L-39ZA fighter jets from Graf Ignatievo Air Base will take part in joint training operations this week. Su-25 aircraft from the Front Deployment Base in Bezmer and anti-aircraft missile formations from Stara Zagora and Karlovo will also participate in the training.

In the period 25 – 29 October 2021, the crews of the five US F-15E aircraft will be at Larissa Air Base in order to conduct joint operations with the Greek Air Force.

In the first week of November, they will return to Graf Ignatievo Air Base to conduct the second stage of the Bulgarian-US flight training which will end on 5 November 2021. The implementation of joint training tasks with US units strengthens the bilateral cooperation and increases interoperability between the armed forces of the two countries.

During the search operation, it was established that Major Valentin Terziev, the pilot of the MiG-29 fighter aircraft, died on June 9th in a night training flight tasked with aerial shooting (illuminated parachute target).

Major Valentin Dimitrov Terziev (47) had done active military service since August 1998. He graduated from G. Benkovski Air Force Academy having acquired specialization as a fighter pilot in the Air Force. He performed his entire military service at the 3rd Graf Ignatievo Air Base where the last position he held was a squadron Chief of Staff. Major Terziev had fighter pilot - first class specialty. He flew MiG-21 and MiG-29 aircraft. Over the years, he had been awarded many times by the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence, the Commander of the Air Force and the Commander of the Air Base.

During his service in the Air Force and until his last training flight, Major Terziev had fulfilled responsibly and professionally the tasks of protecting the inviolability of Bulgaria’s airspace.

The Ministry of Defence expresses its condolences to the relatives and friends of the pilot. May he rest in peace!

Today, June 9, 2021, while performing a training task over the sea area of ​​the Republic of Bulgaria, a MiG-29 aircraft of the Bulgarian Air Force lost radio communication and disappeared from the radars at 00:45.

A search and rescue operation was launched immediately and is still ongoing. It involves forces and assets from the Navy, the Joint Special Operations Command, the Border Police and the Air Force.

The Minister of Defense Georgi Panayotov and the Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov are on their way to the area of ​​the incident.

The media will be informed in due time about the course of the search operation.

The tactical exercise with experimental and joint combat live fire "Shabla 21" has been suspended.

“An exceptionally high level of preparation and, in particular, convincing performance, with a highly efficient organization of communication, coordination and management of the exercise achieved in a complex environment," this was the assessment made by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev after the demonstrations of defence capabilities done by the participants in the national tactical exercise with live firings and international participation "Strike Back - 21". Today, June 4th, at Koren training area, the President accompanied by the Minister of Defense Georgi Panayotov and the Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov monitored the dynamic demonstration. President Radev congratulated the servicemen of the Bulgarian and the Allied armies participating in the exercise as well as the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces and of the Land Forces on the successful performance of the exercise. "It reveals a lot, it demonstrates that the Bulgarian army can act effectively in a complex tactical situation in an international environment," said President Radev.

Today, servicemen from the 31st Mechanized Battalion of the 2nd Tundzha Mechanized Brigade, the 20th self-propelled artillery division and the Center for Training Specialists of the Bulgarian Land Forces, a light infantry platoon from Romania, a tactical battlegroup from Greece as well as helicopters from the Bulgarian and Greek Air Forces took part in the defence capabilities demonstration. The participants demonstrated capabilities employed in a defense operation of coalition format as part of the multinational Southeast Division.

The dynamic display was also monitored by the Ambassadors of the Hellenic Republic, Romania and the United States. H.E. Dimitrios Chronopoulos, H.E. Brandusa Joana Predescu and H.E. Hero Mustafa, the Commander of the US Army Europe and Africa, General Christopher Cavoli, the Chief of Defence Staff of Romania, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu, and the Deputy Chief of Defense of Greece, Vice Admiral Ioannis Drymousis.

The national exercise with international participation "Strike Back - 21" is part of a series of related exercises "Defender Europe - 21". It is conducted in the period 26 May 26 - 5 June 2021 at Koren Training Area. Nearly 800 servicemen from the Land Forces of Bulgaria with up to 210 units of combat and specialized equipment participate in the exercise. The immediate aviation support is performed by Su-25 aircraft, Mi-24 and AN-Apache helicopters from the air forces of the participating nations. A tactical battlegroup from Greece, a light infantry platoon from Romania and a platoon of cadets from Vasil Levski National Defence University also take part in the exercise.