Excellent interaction in conducting exercises typical for an offensive operation was demonstrated today, June 12, by Bulgarian, US, Albanian, Northern-Macedonian and Greek soldiers at Novo Selo Training Area, where STRIKE BACK 2019 exercise is being conducted. The Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Minister of Defense Krasimir Karakachanov, Chief of Defense Andrey Botsev and high-ranking Bulgarian generals were present and observed the tactical exercises.

“Comradeship among servicemen is forged in such exercises and the military readiness is improved,” said the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in front of the media representatives. He congratulated all the participants in the exercise and wished them to train together but never see real battle; he wished them to make many good friends among their fellows and always be ready to “strike back”.

600 servicemen from Land Forces and Air Forces of Bulgarian Armed Forces are participating in the exercise that started on June 7. They are part of three mechanized battalions, artillery battalion of self-propelled howitzers and support units of 2nd Mechanized Brigade, a tank company from the Training Centre for Specialists, as well as crews and engineer staff from Krumovo Air Force Base for close air support. Part of the exercise are also 200 military from the US Army (one mechanized company), Albania (one infantry platoon), Northern Macedonia (one infantry platoon) and Greece (one tank platoon and helicopters for close air support).

At Novo Selo Training Area the the participants worked out elements of counterattack, clearance of urban terrain, and live fire with military vehicles. The tactical actions featured one infantry company, augmented with a tank platoon, from 38 Mechanized Battalion under Captain Asen Atanasov and a multinational company of Bulgarian, Northern Macedonian and Albanian platoons under Captain Rosen Nachev. Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Nikolov, Commander of 38th Mechanized Battalion part of 2nd Mechanized Brigade, is acting as a Commanding officer of the multinational battalion during the exercise. The live fire drills were performed by the troops of the multinational battalion with tanks and APCs (BTR-60PB- MD1) of Bulgarian Army, tanks “Leopard” of Hellenic Army and armored battle machines M2 Bradly of US Army.

The officer, planning the national exercise with multinational participation STRIKE BACK 2019, is Major General Mihail Popov, Commander of Bulgarian Army. The officer, conducting the exercise, is Brigadier General Kostadin Kuzmov, Commander of 2nd Mechanized Brigade. Director of the exercise is Colonel Nedyalko Nikov, Deputy Commander of 2nd Mechanized Brigade.

In front of the media representatives Kasimir Karakachanov, Minister of Defense, stated that Bulgarian government has allocated financial resource for two years in order to modernize the Armed Forces, and not only for the major projects, acquisition of a new fighter aircraft, multi-functional patrol ships and infantry fighting vehicles, but also for repairs and maintenance of the equipment. Thirteen T-72 tanks have already been repaired at the Terem Military Facility. “Military equipment is necessary so that the personnel will be trained and capable and if needed, ready to fulfil their duty”, pointed out minister of defense Karakachanov.

In addition to the words of the Minister of Defense, General Andrey Botsev, Chief of Defense, stated that financial resource will be provided not only for the repair of the tanks T 72, but also for artillery systems, mainly BM-21Grad multiple rocket launcher. “We hope by the end of the week to initiate the project for infantry fighting vehicles for the Army by sending invitations to the prospective suppliers and the procedure will start”, added the Chief of Defense. “All goals, concerning the modernization and the repair of armament and equipment, have been fulfilled so far”, declared the Chief of Defense Andrey Botsev.

Today, June 10, 2019 was launched the joint air-defense live fire exercise of anti-aircraft units (AACD) of Bulgarian Armed Forces. Highlights of SHABLA-2019 include a series of live fires featuring several different types of air defense missile firing systems. For four days the Bulgarian Army, Air Force and Navy will enhance their readiness to participate in joint operations. Intensive preparation with live fire, from aerial and land-based platform, will be conducted on a variety of aerial and surface targets.

Military from the participating countries, Bulgaria, Serbia and the USA, fell in formations for the opening ceremony. The Commander of the Bulgarian Air Force, Major General Tsanko Stoykov, director of the exercise, welcomed the participants and opened the exercise.

The main goal of the exercise is to improve the cooperation between the units of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, participating in the joint force for conduct of defensive operation protecting the naval and air sovereignty of Republic of Bulgaria.

Live Fire Exercise SHABLA 2019 is part of a series of exercises, conducted this summer under the command and in cooperation with US Army Europe.
Alongside the main live fire exercise, the Armed Forces of Republic of Serbia will conduct their own live fire exercise.

Apart from enhancement of the capabilities of the air defense units, the Air Force has the ambitious goal to perfect the actions of the aviation for neutralization of aerial and surface targets. The military assets, that Bulgaria will deploy, include S-300 (SA-10 Grumble), S-125 (SA-3 Goa), 2K12 (SA-6 Gainful), MANPADS 9K32M Strela 2M (SA-7 Grail), jet-fighters MIG-29 Fulcrum, close air-support planes SU 25 Frogfooot and helicopters MI 24 Hind.

MIG-29 Fulcrum will conduct air-to-air live fire exercise with guided rockets on targets dropped with parachutes.

SU 25 Frogfoot and MI 24 Hind will conduct live fire exercise with unguided missiles and artillery armament on surface targets.

The air defense units of the Army will improve their professional skills for neutralization of aerial targets with air defense systems 9К33 (SA-8 Gecko), 2A13 ZU 23-2 and MANPAD 9K32M Strela 2M (SA-7 Grail). Military units with rocket and artillery armament will conduct live fire exercise with 9K79 (SS-21 Scarab), as well as fire with artillery assets on surface targets.

Navy will conduct live fires with MANPADS 9K32M Strela 2M (SA-7 Grail), radar surveillance and radar control with two ships and two coastal posts, one cutter and will have readiness for rescue operations in case of necessity.

Serbia will participate with Air Defense units, crews and air-based platforms for air defense. They will perform live fires with S-125 (SA-3 Goa), 2K12 (SA-6 Gainful), MANPAD 9K32M Strela 2M (SA-7 Grail) and air-to-air missiles from MIG- 29 Fulcrum.

USA will participate with air defense units of their Army. They will fire with Avenger Air Defense System and they will also supply their own remote controlled targets.

More than 1400 servicemen from the three countries will participate in the exercises.

Computer-assisted Command Post Exercise (CPX/CAX) of Multinational Division “South East” – Bucharest ended successfully. It was conducted from 3rd to 7th of June 2019 as a part of the multinational exercise Saber Guardian- 2019. Bulgarian participants – the Command of 2nd mechanized brigade led by Col Stoyan Shopov (chief of staff), have already returned to Bulgaria.

The exercise was conducted in a fictitious scenario of an offence thematic in accordance with activation of article 5 of the Washington Treaty. The actions of the Bulgarian military, under the command of Col Stoyan Shopov, Commander of the brigade during the exercise, were highly assessed by the Commander of the multinational division “South East” – Major General Daniel Petrescu and Chief of staff Col Ovidiu Lungu.

“We’ve achieved our goals during the exercise. It was a test and we performed well. The Headquarters of 2nd Mechanized Brigade proved that they are capable of achieving goals in a multinational ally scale in order to complete mission “Defense”. Not only Bulgarian units were under the command of the Brigade, but also two assigned battalions from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania”, said Col Stoyan Shopov. “The Brigade achieve all its goals during the operation. The operative compatibility was high and will be useful in improving the cooperation in future exercises. This particular exercise showed that we are capable of participating in joint operations, together with our NATO allies, and also to defend our countries.“

The main goal of CPX/CAX of Multinational Division “South East”- Bucharest was: improving operative compatibility of units and headquarters of nations participating as well as improving regional cooperation in means of security. The exercise prepares the participating nations to efficiently respond to different threats for the regional security, to provide border and energy security and counteract terrorism and illegal trafficking.

The tactical exercise STRIKE BACK 2019 was opened with an official ceremony today, June 7, 2019, at the Novo Selo Training Area. The commander of 2nd Mechanized Brigade, Brigadier General Kostadin Kuzmov, the officer conducting the training, reviewed the troops of the participating countries and welcomed the servicemen. A military band played the national anthem of each participating country and the national flags of Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Northern Macedonia, and the USA were raised. Afterwards, the troops also saluted as the flag of "STRIKE BACK 2019" was raised.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Bulgarian EXCON Director Major General Ivan Lalov, the Deputy Commander of Second Mechanized Brigade, Colonel Nedyalko Nikov, the Deputy Commander of the Training Center for Specialists, Colonel Dancho Nikolov, as well as the senior national representatives of the countries participating in the exercise.

“Strike Back 2019, national exercise with international participation, is one of the series of similar exercises held this summer in Southeast Europe with the support of the command of US Army Europe, which enables the improvement of operational capabilities and the achievement of troop interoperability at national and international level," Brigadier General Kuzmov pointed out in his opening address. He stressed that the joint efforts will be aimed at the development of the skills of Bulgarian, Albanian, Greek, Northern Macedonian, and US troops to conduct combat operations, as well as to increase the interoperability of the battalion HQ and commanders in the implementation of joint tasks at a multinational scale.

"The newest feature in the exercise is the combination of two types of combat actions - defensive and offensive. Participation in such a multinational exercise indicates how we can conduct joint operations to ensure the security of the region," Brigadier General Kostadin Kuzmov said in an interview with the media.

The Director of the Bulgarian EXCON Major General Ivan Lalov pointed out that at the Novo Selo Training Area a National Group for Management and Control was established and it will provide continuous liaison and coordination with the EXCONs of other exercises, General Directorate "Border Police", Road Infrastructure Agency and Customs Agency for organization of the movement of military equipment and personnel on the territory of the country. Representatives of the 30th Movement Control Command, of the Joint Force Command, facilitate the smooth movement through all checkpoints at the national borders.

A static display of military equipment showed several combat vehicles of the participating countries during the opening ceremony.

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Tactical exercise with live fire STRIKE BACK 2019 is held from 6 June to 21 June 2019 at the Novo Selo Training Area with the participation of up to 600 soldiers from the Bulgarian Armed Forces (38th Mechanized Battalion and 20th self-propelled artillery battalion of 2nd Mechanized Brigade, a tank company from the Center for training of specialists, as well as assets for immediate aviation support from the Air Force). There are also 200 US troops (one mechanized company), Albania (one infantry platoon), Northern Macedonia (one infantry platoon) and Greece (a tank platoon and helicopters for immediate aviation support).

A total of 42 Joint Force Command troops, Land Force Staff and 2nd Mechanized Brigade participate in the distributed computer-assisted command and staff exercise, which is part of a multinational "SABER GUARDIAN 2019" exercise, together with nearly 8,000 Armed Force troops the United States, Romania, Hungary, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey. The opening ceremonies were held on June 3, 2019, at the Headquarters of the Multinational Division South East in Bucharest, Romania, and in the training areas.

In the computer-assisted command and staff exercise, the Bulgarian Army participates with deployed headquarters of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade, officers holding different positions at the headquarters of the multinational division "Southeast" in Bucharest and in the simulation centre of the Cincu training facility. Head of the participants from the Bulgarian side is Colonel Stoyan Shopov, Headquarters chief of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade.

The Joint Multinational Exercise "SABER GUARDIAN 2019" takes place from 3rd to 24th June in training areas in Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, under the command of the Romanian Land Forces and the US Army Europe.

Since 2013 until now the main goals of the exercise have been to increase the interoperability of units and staffs of the participating countries as well as to strengthen regional cooperation in security. Participation in such multinational exercises increases the readiness of military formations to participate in operations, strengthens professional relationships and improves overall coordination and interaction with our allies and partners in the event of a crisis. The exercise prepares the participant nations to effectively respond to various threats to regional security, to ensure border and energy security, and to counter terrorism and illegal trafficking.

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