Bulgaria’s caretaker Defence Minister: Readiness of air, missile defence on Nato’s Eastern Flank increased
Nato’s missile defence alert has been increased to the highest level and the readiness of the air defence and missile defence systems of the Eastern Flank countries has been increased, Bulgaria’s caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said on March 17.
Zapryanov was speaking at a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the Graf Ignatievo air base near Plovdiv.
Commenting on the war in Iran, he said: “Nato is not part of the US and Israeli operation against Iran, the member states from the Eastern Flank are not participating in this operation, but the preparation activities will continue, very soon other Nato activities will be held on Bulgarian territory, including aviation ones.
“That is, the plans that Nato has for the preparation of troops, containment and defence will continue. The war, as I said, is being fought in the Middle East by the US and Israel and Iran, that’s it, “Zapryanov said.
Under the SAFE mechanism for defence investments, Bulgaria will seek assistance from partners for the accelerated acquisition of the important 3D radars. Zapryanov said that without them, Bulgarian pilots and fighter jets will not be able to be fully relied upon.
Zapryanov said that since Bulgaria has F-16 aircraft , “it is not normal to have an analogue radar system, but we should have 3D radars for a digital field and a new IRIS- T anti-aircraft missile system”.
Currently, 49 renovation projects are being implemented at Graf Ignatievo air base, he said.
“The crews of the MiG-29 aircraft maintain a high level of readiness to respond to a possible violation of our air sovereignty. Air policing is carried out from this base, which secures Nato’s eastern flank, together with Greece, Türkiye and Romania,” Zapryanov said.
He said that the public procurement for the repair of the Bulgarian Air Force’s MiG-29 engines was terminated.
The Defence Ministry has been looking for someone to repair 10 engines for the MiG-29 for over 21 million euro, but no one showed interest.
The maintenance of the old Soviet aircraft has been severely hampered after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Bulgaria relies only on Poland for spare parts and repairs of the MiGs. Ukraine, which has the capacity, remains an option
“We are now restarting this order as quickly as possible with a new technical specification that will allow us to also provide spare parts to repair the engines that are needed.”
He said that the airworthiness of the MiG-29 is until the end of 2028.
