Bulgarian Air Force
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bulgarian Air Force (Bulgarian: Военновъздушни сили, ВВС) is a branch of the Bulgarian Army, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of the Bulgarian airspace, to provide aerial support and to assist the Land Forces in case of war. The Bulgarian Air Force is proud to be one of the oldest air forces in Europe and the world. In recent times it has been actively taking part in numerous NATO missions and exercises in Europe. The commanding officer of the Bulgarian Air Force is Major General Simeon Simeonov.
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[edit] History
[edit] Founding years:Before the First Balkan War
The history of the Bulgarian Air Force can be traced back to end of the 19th century, when in 1892 at the International Fair Plovdiv two lieutenants of the Bulgarian Army flew with the ‘La France’ balloon of the Frenchman Goddard and later, being inspired by the flight, succeeded to convince the General Staff that the Bulgarian Army should acquire such balloons. Following numerous denials of the military schools of other European countries to teach Bulgarian officers to use airships, the Imperial Aviation School in St. Petersburg accepted Lieutenant Vasil Zlatarov as a student. On 20 April 1906 “Vazduhoplavatelno Otdelenie” (roughly translated as Aviation Corps) was created to operate observation balloons for the army and to which after graduation Lt. Zlatarov was appointed the post Commander. The first Bulgarian aviators were educated on a balloon named ‘Sofia-1’, constructed with materials bought from Russia.
In 1910 a Russian aircraft engineer, Boris Maslennikov, was invited to Bulgaria, where he presented his airplane, a modification of the French Farman IV. Following his demonstration assisted by Vasil Zlatarov over the hippodrome in Sofia, the Bulgarian Government decided to purchase airplanes for The Aviation Corps. In early 1912 thirteen army officers were sent abroad for training as pilots and orders were placed for five French, British and German airplanes. In June 1912 Lt. Simeon Petrov[[1]], training at the school of Louis Blériot in France, for the first time in the history of aviation succeeded to land an airplane with a stopped engine. The event was praised by the French newspapers and La Poste, the French mail service, acknowledged it by publishing a stamp. The officers sent to France completed their training first and returned to Bulgaria in July 1912. The same year Bulgaria received its first airplane – Bleriot XXI with which on 13 August 1912 Simeon Petrov flew to become the first Bulgarian to pilot an airplane over Bulgaria.
[edit] First Balkan War
The First Balkan War proved the words of the great French military theorist Ferdinand Foch that aviation is of no military value, to be entirely wrong[2]. Following the outbreak of the war, the Bulgarian pilots still abroad hastily procured aircraft to follow them home. Many foreign voluntary pilots, along with military journalist from all over Europe, arrived at Bulgaria. After the front lines had stabilized, an Aeroplane Platoon was established at a new airfield closer to the fighting.
[edit] Modern times
In the past decade Bulgaria has been trying actively to restructure its army as a whole and a lot of attention has been placed on keeping the aging Russian aircraft operational. Currently the attack and defence branches of the Bulgarian air force are comprised mainly of MIG-21s, MIG-29s and Su-25s. There are also several Su-22s, used primary for surveillance purposes. About 16 MiG-29 fighters are being modernized in order to meet NATO standarts and until now everything is going according to plan. In about 2 years time the government intends to purchase 16 modern jet fighters but due to the lack of funding the procedure of choosing the best alternative could prolong itself. The main competitors are expected to be Eurofighter, Dassault Rafale, JAS Gripen, F-15 and F-18. In 2006 the Bulgarian government signed a contract with Alenia Aeronautica for the delivery of five C-27J Spartan transport aircraft in order to replace the old soviet made An-24 and An-26. The first Spartan is expected to arrive in year 2007 and the remaining four until 2011.
Modern EU-made transport helicopters were purchased in 2005 and until now 3 have arrived. In 2-3 years the Bulgarian Air Force will have 12 Eurocopter Cougar helicopters (8 attack and 4 transport), and the Navy - 6 Eurocopter Panther. Until then the Bulgarian Air force would have to rely on the Mi-24s and Mi-17s. Recently, the Ministry of Defense terminated the contract with Elbit Systems for modernizing 12 Mi-24 and 6 Mi-17 helicopters.
Branches of the airforce include: fighter aviation, assault aviation, intelligence aviation and transportation aviation, aid defense troops, radio-technical troops, communications troops, radio-technical support troops, logistics and medical troops.
[edit] Aircraft inventory
With the exception of the Navy's small helicopter fleet, the Air Forces are responsible for all military aircraft in Bulgaria. The Air Forces' inventory numbers 124 aircraft, including 46 combat jets and 42 helicopters. Aircraft of western origin have only begun to enter the fleet, numbering 13 of the total in service.
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service[1] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aero L-39 |  Czechoslovakia |
advanced trainer | 12 | ||
| Antonov An-24 |  Soviet Union |
transport | 2 | ||
| Antonov An-26 | Soviet Union |
transport | 3 | ||
| Antonov An-30 | Soviet Union |
aerial survey | 1 | ||
| Bell 206 |  United States |
utility helicopter | 6 | ||
| Eurocopter Cougar |  France |
transport helicopter | AS532 | 2 | |
| Let L-410 | Czechoslovakia |
transport | L-410UVP-E | 7 | |
| Mikoyan MiG-29 |  Russia |
fighter lead-in trainer |
MiG-29 MiG-29UB |
16 4 |
|
| Mil Mi-17 | Soviet Union |
transport helicopter | 18 | ||
| Mil Mi-24 | Soviet Union |
attack helicopter | Mi-24D Mi-24V |
12 6 |
|
| Pilatus PC-9 |  Switzerland |
trainer/light attack | PC-9M | 6 | |
| Pilatus PC-12 | Switzerland |
utility transport | 1 | ||
| Sukhoi Su-25 | Soviet Union |
close support lead-in trainer |
Su-25 Su-25UB |
35 4 |
