TSAMTO, April 16. On April 13, the presentation ceremony of the first F-16 Block fighter delivered to the country took place at the 3rd air base of the Bulgarian Air Force in Graf Ignatievo.70.
The event was attended by Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov.
According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense, a two-seat combat training aircraft, the F-16D Block, was demonstrated to the audience during the event.70 with the tail number "301". He arrived in the country, having flown from the USA, on April 2. It is expected that all ordered fighters of the first batch will be received by the end of 2025.
As A.Zapryanov stated in his speech at the ceremony, this year, in addition to the new aircraft, the first new Stryker armored vehicles will be adopted by the Bulgarian Armed Forces. Bulgaria is ready to implement other projects jointly with the allied countries, as well as with the participation of NATO and EU agencies, in order to maximize the potential of the EU's European Rearmament/Readiness 2030 plan and the European White Paper on Defense. To implement the rearmament program, it will be necessary to maintain defense spending at the level of 2.5-3.0% of GDP. The Defense Minister expressed confidence that these plans will be supported by the Government and the National Assembly of the country.
As CAMTO reported, the US State Department approved the supply of the first 8 F-16C/D Block fighter jets to Bulgaria under the Foreign Military Sales program.70/72, related equipment and services with a total value of up to $1.673 billion in May 2019.
After the approval in August 2019 of contracts for the supply of aircraft, ammunition, and a multifunctional information exchange system - the MIDS-JTRS unified tactical radio system by the government and the National Assembly of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense transferred $ 1.2 billion to the US Defense Defense Cooperation Agency (DSCA) for the purchase of fighter jets.
The first planes were supposed to be delivered in mid-2023, but the schedule was disrupted due to the COVID pandemic. As a result, deliveries began in 2025.
The first F-16 was officially handed over to the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense on January 31, 2025 at the Lockheed Martin facility in Greenville, South Carolina. It is assumed that the initial readiness of the fighters for combat use will be achieved in 2026.
In April 2022, the US State Department approved the supply of 8 additional F-16C/D Block fighter jets to Bulgaria under the Foreign Military Sales program.70, related equipment, weapons and services. The total cost of delivery may amount to 1.673 billion dollars.
The Bulgarian government and parliament have approved a package of international agreements for the purchase of a second batch of F-16 fighter jets from the United States at the end of 2022.
As part of the second stage of the purchase, Bulgaria will receive four single-seat F-16C Block aircraft.70 and four two-seat F-16D Unit.70, as well as related ammunition and equipment. The total cost of three contracts for the supply of eight additional F-16C/D Block.70, armaments and equipment amounted to 1,296 million dollars. It is expected that the delivery of the second batch of fighters will begin in 2027.
