Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Bulgaria risks being unable to carry air defence combat duty: caretaker defence minister

Caretaker Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov
Photo: BGNES

“There is a risk of Bulgaria’s air force being incapable of carrying combat duty,” said caretaker Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov as he presented his team. “The MIG-29 aircraft will be fit for action until mid-2023. Negotiations are underway with Poland for the overhaul of at least six MIG-29s there,” Minister Stoyanov said. The ministry is also looking into the possibility of leasing aircraft, he added.

“The first F-16s will arrive in 2025 and will be ready to become operational no earlier than the end of 2026. This means that for the space of 3-4 years we are going to have a serious problem with the country’s air policing,” Minister Stoyanov said, and pointed to the purchase of the second batch of 8 F-16 aircraft as a priority.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Government will strictly follow the law to ensure fair elections

Caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev and Caretaker Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeikov discussed the preparations for the elections for National Assembly and for MEPs on June 9, 2024.  Glavchev said that..

published on 4/23/24 12:12 PM

The National Assembly has set a 12-year record for number of legislative amendments

In the period July - December 2023, the parliament adopted 51 amendments to 43 laws. 79% or 34 of these 43 laws have been amended more than once. This is the highest percentage of amendments for the past 12 years, the civic..

published on 4/23/24 11:39 AM

Parliament discusses tightening measures against smoking in closed spaces

The PP-DB coalition propose changes to the Health Act envisaging the ban on smoking in indoor public places to cover all smoking products, including non-tobacco ones as well as hookahs. If the changes were adopted in the..

published on 4/23/24 10:24 AM