The Ministry of Defense and the government are fully focused on the version of a Ukrainian drone that was the subject of electronic warfare - jamming, manipulation of GPS signals, most likely. And this is indeed the most likely version. However, there is another version. Just two days ago, the Lithuanian Minister of Defense once again warned that Russia is preparing false flag operations using grounded Ukrainian drones or parts of them, which will subsequently be used against objects of the critical infrastructure of the Baltic countries. This version is less likely, but at the moment we should not rule it out. This was stated on the air of "Wake up" former Defense Minister Todor Tagarev regarding the drone that exploded on Bulgarian territory.
"This drone with a warhead, although small, falls and explodes very close to compressor stations of the gas pipeline, which is critically important for the gas supply not only to EU countries, but also to Ukraine during winter conditions", Tagarev added.
"The explanations currently coming from the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister and the Chief of Defense are focused on the actions that are possible with the available means and capabilities that we have. However, here we need to think a little more broadly. For example, Andrey Gyurov yesterday explained in his publication on the topic that our capabilities to act with the available forces are limited, but we need to think about policies. What worries me is that we have heard absolutely nothing regarding the policy for developing the relevant capabilities - neither from the Prime Minister, nor from the Minister of Defense, nor from anyone who has made statements on this topic," he said.
"First, the Minister of Defense said that after the three incidents about two weeks ago with Russian drones in Romania, we have strengthened our anti-drone defense capabilities by deploying additional means of airspace surveillance, anti-aircraft missile systems and aviation. However, we have not been able to react in any way, which shows that the fact that we in Bulgaria rely entirely on Soviet equipment, especially on these radars, does us no good in the face of modern threats to our security, such as threats from drones. We do not have additional means, because technically it is quite possible to determine whether we currently have manipulation of the GPS signal," Tagarev also said.
According to him, we most likely have not invested in such systems and cannot react at the moment. He stated that we rely on old Soviet equipment or even newer equipment, which, however, is not specialized.
"About a year ago, I said that it was only a matter of time before a drone entered our airspace, so we will certainly have further cases if the war continues," Tagarev believes.
He also explained the differences between the “Shahed“ drones and decoy drones. "These “Shahed“ strike drones are made of metal, with much more powerful engines, a control, navigation and targeting system, as well as a more powerful warhead. The decoys are made as cheap as possible, with the simplest engine and the simplest control, precisely to be cheap. They have certain technical means to imitate a larger target and to oversaturate the anti-drone defense and anti-missile defense system. In this saturation, expensive resources are used to destroy assets that do not pose a serious threat, "he pointed out.
"This government isolates us. We did not participate in the industrial forum in Ankara during the NATO summit, where such formats were announced. We did not participate in the “Coalition of the Willing“, we do not participate in other formats in which several countries come together to build more effective defense. It is not clear to me what Radev is counting on. He held talks with Zelensky, requesting drone protection technology, while at the same time saying: “We will not help you.“ A discussion in the format of “Advisory Council“ could help the government orient itself. At the moment, it seems completely disoriented to me,” the former defense minister also said.