President Rumen Radev will visit the Graf Ignatievo airbase today and will get acquainted with the process of accepting and mastering the F-16 Block 70 fighter jet, as well as the stages of building the necessary infrastructure, the press service of the head of state announced.
Rumen Radev will talk with the personnel and management of the airbase. At the end of June, the president noted the need to accelerate the training of the F-16 fighter jet flight crew.
Bulgaria received the first two F-16 Block 70 fighters in April and June, BTA recalls. By the end of 2025, in fulfillment of the 2019 contract. our country should receive a total of eight such aircraft. Our Air Force will have one F-16 Block 70 squadron by the end of 2027, when another eight aircraft are expected to be delivered under the second contract.
The first combat duty of the F-16 will be assumed in 2026 at the earliest, said the Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov in early June. He added that the first aircraft, which arrived in April, is already flying and stressed that there are enough trained pilots to fly the fighters.