Bulgaria’s Defence Chief: F-16 will be repaired in a matter of days
It is a matter of days for the Bulgarian Air Force’s F-16 aircraft to be repaired, Defence Chief Admiral Emil Eftimov told public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) in an interview on May 6, Armed Forces Day.
It emerged last week that the F-16, which arrived in Bulgaria on April 2 and was the subject of an official ceremony on April 13, had a hardware problem that was standing in the way of it being rated to go into service.
This emerged in the course of a political row between GERB-UDF leader Boiko Borissov and President Roumen Radev. Allegations about the matter, including of sabotage and attempted espionage, are to be the subject of a hearing on May 8 by the parliamentary committee overseeing the security services.
Eftimov told BNT: “The F-16 has a small technical problem. The aircraft is in the process of acceptance, followed by acceptance of armament, operation and training of our pilots and technicians. This is a process.”
Eftimov refused to comment on political statements on the subject and described the accusations against the Air Force leadership as insinuations.
He believes that the servicemen deserve an apology, but he does not expect to receive one.
“There will be attacks. There will be problems with subsequent aircraft, there will be problems with ships, with combat vehicles, with radars,” he said.
“This is something normal, this is a process. Logistic systems, support systems are being set up. The key moment in this regard – maintaining secrecy, security and so on – was the certification of the airbase’s security systems. We are working very seriously in this regard. The personnel are prepared.”
Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov told BNT that it was a lie that Bulgarian military personnel damaged something on the F-16, and the allegations of espionage and betrayal are also categorically false.
“The indication of a malfunction was established by the American technical staff,” Zapryanov said.
“Our people did not touch anything, they simply receive the systems. We have invested millions of dollars in training both our flight and technical staff, and I have full confidence in these people,” he said.
The board that needs to be replaced has been provided, and Bulgaria must transport it from the US.
“Meanwhile, testing of the other systems continued. The aircraft is fully functional. After we receive the new board, testing of this system will continue, after which it will be technically accepted, there will be a flight acceptance, and finally the Chief of Defence will issue an order for acceptance into service.”
Zapryanov said that Bulgaria will not pay anything extra for the replacement of the faulty part.
“The device is not at our expense, since the aircraft has not yet become ours. We have not yet paid for the aircraft – after we accept it into service, we sign the financial documents and then it will be paid to the manufacturing company. We will not pay anything extra,” he said.
The agreed package allows for the acceptance of the aircraft into service and the training of pilots to work on aerial targets.
“We have three years of support, which the American side will provide, and now negotiations are underway for a contract for spare parts throughout the entire life cycle of the aircraft,” Zapryanov said.
According to Atanas Zapryanov, there were no gaps in communication, but added that they underestimated how a technical malfunction could turn into a political problem.
(Photos: Ministry of Defence)
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