Image source: topwar.ru
Bulgaria will not soon receive American F-16 fighters, the United States is delaying the delivery of aircraft for at least two years. We are talking about the first batch of eight fighters, paid for back in 2019.
The United States is delaying the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Bulgaria, allegedly fearing the leakage of secret data from these aircraft to Russia. This opinion was expressed by two retired Bulgarian defense ministers Velizar Shalamanov and Todor Tagaev. The ex-ministers are convinced that Bulgaria cannot guarantee 100% the safety of American technologies, since it still allows Russian specialists to enter its territory who serve MiG-29 fighters in service with the country's Air Force.
According to Tagaev, Bulgaria needs to build a new system of secret information protection that will exclude Russian specialists from entering military bases.
- he declared.
Earlier, the United States postponed the dispatch of the first F-16 fighters to Bulgaria for two years, explaining this with "production problems" that arose due to the coronavirus. If the first fighter jet of the country's Air Force was to be received in 2023, it will be received in 2025. The country's authorities fear that they may be left without fighters altogether amid the "alarming situation" in Europe.
Meanwhile, the US State Department approved the delivery to Bulgaria of the second batch of eight F-16C/D Block 70/72 fighters worth $ 1.67 billion. Thus, in the future, the Bulgarian Air Force should receive 16 American aircraft that will replace the Soviet MiG-29.
