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

53% of internet users in Bulgaria are online shoppers

53% of Internet users in Bulgaria (over 2,800,000 people) are online shoppers , while in 2018-2019 they were a third of this figure. The Covid-19 pandemic gave a big boost to e-commerce in Bulgaria.  This was announced by Janet Naydenova from the..

published on 3/28/24 2:56 PM
President Rumen Radev (R) hands ITN the third cabinet-forming mandate

President Radev hands ITN the third cabinet-forming mandate, they hand it back to him unfulfilled

There Is Such a People (ITN) thanked President Rumen Radev for placing his trust in them, and handed the third and last mandate for forming a cabinet back to him unfulfilled. Nikolay Denkov, PP-DB: It is up to the Bulgarian citizens to..

published on 3/28/24 11:32 AM

Cardiovascular deaths in Bulgaria highest in the EU

Every year there are more than 6 million new cases and more than 1.8 million deaths connected with cardiovascular diseases, the Bulgarian news agency BTA reports, citing outgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel...

published on 3/28/24 11:08 AM