Former instructor pilot Petar Ivanov tells FACT: F-16 Block 70 is like a tuned "Trabant

How good a plane is the F-16 Block 70 and is the problem that still prevents the plane from flying big enough? Petar Ivanov, a former military instructor pilot in the Air Force, speaks to FACT.

- Mr. Ivanov, there has been a lot of noise about the situation with the new F-16 Block 70 plane. Do you think the problem is very serious, or will it be solved and we will soon see the plane in the air?
- I think it is not a big problem. If there really is a problem that depends on us and America, it will be solved. But if it is an external problem…
- In the sense… What Do you mean an external problem?
- Look, what happened in the last month. I just follow the news and what we heard. An American nuclear submarine surfaced at the North Pole because its radio-electronic means were denied. It was simply forced to surface so that the crew would not perish. The electricity went out in Italy and Spain. These are many things. And at the same time, the Russians say – “… don't underestimate us, because you will have many surprises“.

- You mean that there could be some kind of Russian interference at the energy level…
- I assume that there could be some interference. Look, the Russians have been working for many years with things that they surpass other countries in, including at the radio-electronic level. For 40 years now, Russia has had the ability to make it so that not a single internal combustion engine can start. There simply won't be an electronic field. Neither a car, nor a tank, nothing will be able to start. Of course, we won't have any other connections. So in so many years the Russians may have advanced even further. So it's possible that there was Russian interference.

- And the fact that an attempt may have been made to copy the software, as the thesis has developed, does it seem logical and adequate to you?
- No. In my opinion, this was not done on Bulgarian territory. I suppose that there may have been a problem when this plane was flying over the ocean. But, of course, the goal was to deliver it so that it would be seen that there was a plane. Otherwise, they are unlikely to fix it soon, because it seems to me that they themselves do not yet know what it is about.

- After it landed, do you rule out intervention on our territory?
- That we in Bulgaria are so divided that we consider each other enemies and we are blind to each other. It makes no sense for something to happen in Bulgaria. In my opinion, the problem comes from another distance. I will say again that in my opinion, something happened during the flyover.

- It is not abnormal for a system failure to occur even with a brand new machine...
- I have flown a brand new Russian machine - MiG 21. I have received the plane straight from the factory after it landed in Graf Ignatievo. That was many years ago. They brought the plane from the Soviet Union. I went with another colleague, we got on and there were no problems. It smelled of paint and varnish, everything was perfect and we had no problems. And now they haven't been able to accept the plane for a month. It seems to me that some preconditions are being created to tell us that we are not on time and we don't know what it is about.

- And the fact that the plane has been cut in terms of capabilities and parts for repairs in order to get a good price, which is also being talked about, how logical does that seem to you…
- That would be a problem if that's what's written in the contract, but no one has read the contract. I know that the plane is expensive because it can carry nuclear weapons. Otherwise, whether we have weapons and parts for repairs delivered to the warehouses for this plane - I can't say. I have no idea. Otherwise, the electronics of the machine have been changed. Look, the F-16 is similar to the MiG 21, which I've flown on and I know its capabilities. If you put a new radio, internet, and good brakes on a "Trabant" - it will become a modern car. The same is true of this F-16 Block 70. It is an air "Trabant" that has been fitted with modern equipment, some new brakes. And $25,000 per flight hour is a lot for us and isn't what we are doing worth it? Ill-considered decisions! We don't have that kind of money to operate and maintain these planes!?

- They tuned it, as they say…
- Exactly. Otherwise, I don't see it being much more modern than the planes that were produced in the 70s in the Soviet Union. I would share something else. Our F-16 plane may have nothing to do with it or it may be something elementary, but the engineering and technical staff - whether American or Bulgarian, are obliged to take measures, because look at what is happening in less than a year with the F-16 in Europe! On August 26, 2024, the best young pilot of Ukraine died in an F-16, and only 25 days after the plane was delivered to Ukraine? On February 15, 2025, the F-16 was shot down by its owner because the code or password of the identification device was not changed! The pilot dies?! On April 12, 2025, the 21-year-old pilot Pavlo Ivanov dies in an F-16!? Reason - an error in piloting technique!? On April 28 of this year, the experienced Danish pilot Jen Hansel, who is a mercenary in Ukraine (Kryvyi Rih), was shot down and died!? On the same date, there is also information about a Ukrainian pilot who ejected from an F-16. In this incident, I assume that it is the same event, but they are keeping the reason a secret?
Most likely, that is why they are stopping our F-16 until the causes of the accidents with these aircraft are clarified. And the delivery of a probable part of the aircraft's hardware, which is vulnerable...