200 American and nearly 200 Bulgarian military personnel took part in the joint exercise Thracian Summer 24, which was held in the area of the Krumovo airbase, Plovdiv airport and the military area of the village of Chesnigirovo.
Within two weeks, the participants performed training flights with the Bulgarian transport plane "Spartan". and three aircraft "C-130 Hercules" of the US Air Force.
This was specified by BNT.
At the open day for media and guests, the crews showed some of their capabilities. The official Minister of Defense Atanas Zapryanov was also present at the event.
"This is a traditional exercise of the air forces of the Bulgarian and American countries with the participation of our special forces and anti-aircraft missile units. A complex exercise that, in addition to building interoperability, allows pilots to fly in formation, it also increases our training. It is a demonstration of the fact that Bulgaria, as a NATO member country, is implementing the decision to increase the capabilities of the armed forces and implement defense policies," Zapryanov said.
"The training is multi-purpose, tactical landings, take-offs, flights at extremely low altitude. Colleagues have something to show us, as we show them", commented Kaloyan Atanasov, captain of the "Spartan" plane.
"My teaching score is nothing short of excellent. "Perfect teamwork, the training was fantastic," said Shawn Andrews, exercise manager, US Air Force.