Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimityr Stojanov assured that the official order for the second batch of F-16 Block 70 multi-role fighters was approaching. The Bulgarian parliament approved the purchase of eight machines for $ 1.25 billion in July 2019. The next eight are expected to cost $ 1.3 billion. The defense ministry in the government of technical prime minister Gyłyb Donew has already approved the purchase project, but this transaction will also have to be approved by the parliament, but only after the elections scheduled for October 2.
– Acquiring new planes is extremely important for the Bulgarian air force – said Stojanov. – We have old Soviet machines that we cannot maintain due to the problems that occurred when the war in Ukraine broke out.
The US Department of Defense Agency for Security Cooperation (DSCA) announced approval to sell eight more Vipers (four single-seater and four two-seater) in April this year. It was a response to a request made by the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense in August 2021. The second batch will allow the completion of one squadron and the final retirement of Soviet-made machines.
-ADVERTISEMENT-
A small political scandal broke out in Bulgaria around this request, and Georgi Panayotov, defense minister in Stefan Janeev’s interim government, had to explain himself extensively. The transitional government should not make decisions of strategic importance (such as the purchase of additional combat aircraft), so as not to bind the hands of the future permanent council of ministers. Panayotov therefore appeared before the deputies of the National Assembly and explained that his ministry only asked for an offer (formally in American law it is called the Letter of Offer and Acceptance, abbreviated as LOA), which should arrive within roughly six months.
Bulgarian MiG-29UB.
(US Air Force / Airman 1st Class Brooke Moeder)
Paradoxically, the Bulgarian political scene is again in a similar position. Janewo was replaced in December last year by Kiril Petkov, who only held the post for eight months. On June 22, the parliament expressed a vote of no confidence in the government, early elections were called on August 1, and Gyłyb Donev became the head of the new transitional government.
It seems that the new parliament will stick to the purchase without much sensation, but it is impossible not to notice that the history of the Bulgarian F-16s so far is a real soap opera. When the Bulgarian parliament approved the purchase of the first eight F-16s, voices rose that $ 1.25 billion was too high a price, especially as guided bombs were missing from the weapons package ordered, and only twenty-four Mk 82 bombs were reduced. from sixteen pilots to twelve, and for mechanics – from seventy-five to sixty-five.
Defense Minister Dimityr Stojanov was the Air Force Chief of Staff in 2015–2016.
(Bulgarian Ministry of Defense)
President Rumen Radew decided to exercise his right of veto over the law approving the acquisition of the F-16. According to Radev, the violent parliamentary debate has shown that the agreement with the United States on the purchase of aircraft does not enjoy public support. It didn’t do much. Parliament rejected the veto with 128 votes out of 240 MEPs. The chairman of the parliamentary defense committee, Konstantin Popov, stated that Radeva’s veto was unnecessary and unjustified. Soon after, the first pilots selected for training were: Major Stojan Petkow, Captain Alexander Velinov, Captain Todor Todorov and Lieutenant Simeon Georgiew.
The request for the second batch of the F-16 corrects these shortcomings somewhat. The list of components provided by the DSCA included the KMU-556 and KMU-572 control units for JDAM bomb assembly, as well as the MXU-650 flight path correction control surface kits and the MAU-210 Paveway bomb guidance computer kits. But the list is only a list, we will yet see if Bulgaria actually invests in guided bombs.
Bulgarian Su-25UBK.
(Chris Lofting, GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2)
Late last year, it was announced that Bulgaria would receive two additional flightless F-16s to serve as ground training aids. The planes were donated under the Excess Defense Articles program, which allowed for the sale or transfer of withdrawn weapons to allies of the United States. On the same principle, Poland also received two F-16As a few years ago.
The first F-16s are to be delivered to Bulgaria in 2025. Their acquisition is to allow the retirement of obsolete and neglected post-Soviet combat aircraft from service. Currently, the Bulgarian air force has formally fourteen MiG-29s (one crashed two months ago) and a dozen Su-25s, of which around eight and … zero years, respectively. Stojanov revealed that he wants to buy engines for the former from the Polish Air Force. It cannot be ruled out that – as in the case of Slovakia – allied countries will be responsible for the protection of Bulgarian airspace in the transition period before the supply of new fighters.
In late March, the then new defense minister, Dragomir Zakov, admitted that Bulgaria would not hand over any used post-Soviet weapons to Ukraine, as there was nothing that could be handed over. Probably (no one has officially confirmed it) part of the Su-25 was sent to Ukraine via a third country as a source of spare parts.
See also: Old Lebanese Hawkers Hunters are to fly again – in Canada
US Air Force / Tech. Sgt. Rachel Maxwell
