"The defense industry is an orphan in Bulgaria's industrial complex", said Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov in the studio of "The Day Begins" on BNT.
Dimitar Stoyanov, Minister of Defense: "The case with the drone shows that there is a need to utilize special systems for detecting and destroying such aircraft. There is a need for new systems, purchased as quickly as possible. The defense industry is an orphan in the industrial complex of Bulgaria, it was neglected and was not in any way stimulated to develop in one way or another."
Dimitar Stoyanov, Minister of Defense: "What is known from the preliminary report - the drone is a decoy, type “Maya“, with geometric dimensions of 2 by 2, with the ability to carry up to 5 kg of explosives. Manufactured by the Ukrainian side. The price of such a drone is 4500 to 5000 euros/dollars. Most likely it comes from Romanian territory and the direction is towards Bulgarian territory. The parts found from the drone are currently being examined, including an attempt to extract information about the trajectory of the flight itself. We have doubts that we will be able to do this, a large part of the elements of the control board are damaged. The GPS module is open, it is not protected in any way. The drone has a wooden structure, the only metal part is the engine."
The drone's flight range is up to 600 km, the fuel used is gasoline, the Minister of Defense said.
Dimitar Stoyanov, Minister of Defense: "These are different types of drones that are used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces - some of them have explosives, others do not, and still others have self-destruct devices. The serial number of the drone has been preserved and this information has been provided to the Ukrainian side. We are working diligently with our colleagues from Romania and Ukraine and are expecting a response from the Ukrainian side today whether this drone took off from their territory."