Bulgaria must have a specialized system for countering drones, which would combine detection, tracking and neutralization of unmanned aerial vehicles. This is stated by Atanas Zapryanov against the background of the increased incidents with drones and the growing security risks in the Black Sea.
The topic came to the fore again after the attacks on merchant ships near the Bulgarian and Romanian coasts. On October 13, the Ministry of Interior announced that the country needs modern anti-drone systems that can work together with the Romanian authorities. The Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior Lyubomir Nikolov and the Director of the “Border Police“ Anton Zlatanov pointed out that such protection would require significant funding, possibly from the European Union.
Bulgaria has separate systems
Currently, Bulgaria has separate means of countering drones, but they do not constitute a comprehensive national system. In August, the Ministry of Defense announced to BNT that two anti-drone systems from the American company “Axon“ have already been delivered to the country. The Military Police is working with them.
The ground forces have tested one Bulgarian and one American system. The technologies can detect targets through optical sensors and radio frequency analysis, and then affect the control of the drone, including forcing it to land or return to the operator.
However, these capabilities are intended for the protection of specific sites. They do not automatically provide coverage of the entire territory or the sea border.
Four types of systems are being prepared for development
As early as October 2025, Zapryanov reported to the parliamentary defense committee that technical specifications for four types of anti-drone systems had been prepared. The idea is that the prototypes will be developed by Bulgarian technology companies and then produced by the local defense industry.
According to him, the project should include various means of surveillance, detection and countermeasures, since small drones, low-altitude aircraft and faster jet unmanned systems set different requirements.
Bulgaria plans to finance part of the modernization of air and anti-drone defense through the European SAFE mechanism. The publicly known plans include both the purchase of ready-made systems and the participation of Bulgarian manufacturers.
So far, no specific deadline has been announced for the construction of a unified national anti-drone system. It has been confirmed that individual systems have already been delivered, while the broader concept for connecting them into a common defense is still being developed.
Sources: mediapool.bg, bntnews.bg, bnrnews.bg