Bulgarian and Spanish fighter aircraft will jointly perform Air policing tasks from 14 November to 2 December 2022. The Council of Ministers approved the joint execution of tasks on enhancing Air Policing by the Air Forces of Bulgaria and Spain tasked to protect our country’s airspace. The mission will implement measures on ensuring the security of NATO Allies and will fulfil the tasks incorporated in the Standing Air and Missile Defence Plan of the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS).

The Air Force of the Kingdom of Spain will redeploy up to 200 personnel and up to 8 Eurofighter F-2000 Typhoon aircraft to our country.

Two fighter aircraft will be on 24-hour duty jointly with the Bulgarian Air Force in the enhanced Air Policing mission. The Spanish Air force duty crews, jointly with their Bulgarian counterparts, will perform area protection tasks, interception, visual reconnaissance and identification as well as escort tasks. The Bulgarian Air Force will continue to fulfil its national commitments to the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS).

NATO Air Policing is a peacetime collective defence mission. Its purpose is to ensure the integrity and airspace security of the NATO Allies.

The participation of personnel and equipment of the Bulgarian Air Force in the joint Air Policing operations proves the capabilities of Bulgaria’s combat aviation to act in an integrated mode with the Allies’ forces to ensure the air security of the member states of the Alliance.

Decisions to guarantee the security of Allies in Eastern Europe were taken by the Heads of State and Governments of the member states at the NATO Summits in Wales in 2014 and in Warsaw in 2016. One of these decisions is to reinforce the air policing mission of the Eastern Flank member states with Allied forces on a rotational basis. Until the current year, the Bulgarian Air Force performed joint Air Policing tasks in 2014 and 2016 with forces and assets of the US Air Force, and in 2017 with forces and assets of the Italian Air Force. This year, forces and assets of the Air Forces of Spain and the Netherlands participated in enhanced Air Policing jointly with the Bulgarian Air Force.

Bulgarian-Romanian flight training "Blue Bridge 2022" was conducted today, 6 October 2022, with the participation of servicemen from the Air Forces of Bulgaria, Romania, and Canada. In the first phase of the training scenario, a pair of MiG-29s intercepted a Romanian C-130 "intruder" aircraft and forced it to land at Plovdiv Airport. The Bulgarian crews completed all procedures and successfully performed the Air Policing mission - guarding the airspace of the Republic of Bulgaria in the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System.

Prior to that, a pair of F-16s of the Romanian Air Force and a pair of F-18s (CF-188) of the Royal Canadian Air Force were activated from Fetesti airfield and brought into action against the "intruder" aircraft, whose role was performed by the Romanian C-130 military-transport aircraft that "deviated" from its flight plan in the direction of our country's border.

Our northern neighbor’s combat aircraft acted until the "intruder" was handed over to the Bulgarian pair of fighter aircraft performing the mission. The second phase of the training scenario involved similar joint actions to force the C-130 to land at a designated airfield in Romania.

The Bulgarian-Romanian training flights entitled "Blue Bridge" have been conducted annually since 2012. They are aimed at achieving better coordination and interoperability in cross-border air traffic control and airspace security operations.

The European Spartan Exercise 2022 (ESE 2022), international flight training hosted by Bulgaria for the fifth time, has kicked off. This year, the flying exercise will run in the period 3 to14 October with the participation of C-27J Spartan air crews and flight engineering technicians from Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, and Romania.

Bezmer and Cheshnegirovo airfields are the main areas chosen for tactical training to include tactical approaches, personnel airdrops, and engine running operations (EROs). To make the crews’ training missions more intensive, they will be able to plan dropping personnel and cargo into simulated drop zones, whereas Bezmer will be used for performing tactical approaches. Exercise missions will be carried out at Dolna Mitropoliya airfield as well. The crews will train to fly low level, perform tactical navigations in different scenarios, and suppress the air defences of the country.

The command and control structure of the flying exercise comprises representatives of the participating nations, as well as a representative of the European Defence Agency – the Bulgarian Air Force Officer Lt Col Viktor Bryaskov. Lt Col Dennis Innocenti, tactical instructor from the C-27J Spartan International Flight Training School in Italy, will be responsible for setting up the tactical environment and for mission planning.

The missions planned will include paradropping to be performed by Air Force service members. The exercise scenario also envisages practicing aeromedical evacuation (AE) jointly with teams from the Sofia Military Medical Academy, as well as AE teams from Italy, Lithuania, and Romania.

This year’s international flight training is the 6th iteration of the exercise, as per the Programme Agreement between C-27J aircraft operators from European Union Member States. The C-27J project was set up on the initiative of the European Defence Agency and is aimed at synchronising aircraft maintenance methods and aligning air crews and flight engineering technicians’ training.

On 8 August 2022, crews of the Bulgarian Air Force (BAF) started performing tasks in the joint flight training “Thracian Viper – 2022”. Forces and assets from the Air Forces of Greece, Canada, Romania, and the United States in Europe will participate in the training.

Within two weeks, in the period 8 August - 19 August 2022, joint flights will be conducted in the Bulgarian airspace, and tasks specific to the sectors of aviation and air defence will be performed, the complexity of which will increase as the training progresses. Their main objective is related to the preparation of forces for joint participation in coalition operations.

On the Bulgarian side, servicemen from the Command, control, and surveillance base, crews of MiG-29 fighter jets from Graf Ignatievo Air Base, crews of Su-25 aircraft from Bezmer Air Base, and crews of AS-532 Cougar helicopters from Krumovo Air Base patriciate in the training and have to fulfill tasks on aeromedical evacuation. Air defence formations from the Air Force and the Land Forces take part in the training as well.

Royal Canadian Air Force F-18s will operate from the territory of Romania, our northern neighbor. The Romanian and the Greek Air Forces with their F-16s will conduct flights taking off from and landing at their permanent bases.

US Air Force personnel will provide for the aviation operations at Elena training area.

The joint training “Thracian Viper” has been conducted annually since 2010 and provides opportunities for the Air Forces of the participating nations to generate rich experience in the conditions of real interaction in an international environment.

Dimitar Stoyanov, Minister of Defence of the caretaker government with Prime Minister Galab Donev, officially took office today, 2 August 2022. In the State Hall of the Ministry of Defence, he accepted the post from the outgoing minister Dragomir Zakov in the presence of the leadership of the Defence Staff, the senior officer staff of the Bulgarian Army, and directors of directorates.

"I accept the post of Minister of Defence at an extremely difficult time caused by the war in Ukraine. I am convinced that the Bulgarian Armed Forces are and will continue to be the guarantor of security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. There is no prosperous country without a modern, trained and combat-ready army," Minister Stoyanov said.

He pointed out that the main task of his team is the work on the modernization projects of the Armed Forces and the documentary preparation that can be done on them without a functioning parliament. Among the major projects are a new fighter aircraft, a combat vehicle for the Land Forces etc. "We are looking forward to preparing next year's budget. Our role as the political leadership of the Ministry of Defence is to achieve 2% of GDP for defence as early as 2023, and on this topic, talks have already been held with the Ministry of Finance," Minister Stoyanov said. According to him, work will also be done in order to create a dedicated defence fund where the unrealized financial means of each year will be accumulated. “The daily combat training of the military formations continues, and the autumn-winter preparation of the equipment is forthcoming,” Minister Stoyanov further said.

"I will in no way politicize the Bulgarian Army. The Bulgarian army is a pillar of statehood. I expect full cooperation from the senior command staff, and together we will achieve the established goals," Minister Dimitar Stoyanov stressed.

He thanked the team of the outgoing Minister Dragomir Zakov for the work done so far.

"We leave a good legacy for the short period of time that my cabinet was in the Ministry of Defence. I would like to thank my colleagues for their perseverance and dedication, as well as the senior command staff for their excellent interaction. I have the utmost respect for all service members and their dignified profession in protecting the motherland. Without a well-equipped, strong and motivated army, there can be no security," said Dragomir Zakov.

Traditionally, the outgoing Minister of Defence Dragomir Zakov presented his successor Dimitar Stoyanov with an icon of Saint George.

Deputy Ministers of Defence of Minister Dimitar Stoyanov will be Katerina Gramatikova and Teodora Genchovska.