In May 1968, by decision of the government, the Military Research Institute (VNII) was established at the General Directorate of Computing center to it. This year we celebrate 56 years since its foundation. Initially, the Institute was located on the territory of the BA “G. S. Rakovski“, and later it was moved to the 4th kilometer area.
VNII develops its research and applied activities to support the operational management of the troops, the management of personnel and the material and technical support of the Bulgarian Army.
After the reorganization of scientific research activities in 1999, VNII ceased its independent existence. In 2009, the Defense Institute was established, which is the successor of VNII.
„56 years ago, information technology, programming and the use of computing technology in our armed forces were introduced. I am convinced that no one then imagined that today this is the most important direction in the military capabilities of all countries in the world. Today, it is a combat activity through which targets are hit, said Defense Minister Ananas Zapryanov during the official celebration ceremony, which was held at the Military Club in Sofia.
„Today in missiles, drones, in all systems – sea, air, space, land, without IT technology, we are lost. We are already talking about cyberspace, i.e. this space, which we used only as support, is today a combat space. Unfortunately, it has also become very vulnerable”, the minister specified.
„We will increase the salaries of people who deal with information technology and cyberspace, because we are no longer competitors in the labor market, but the market shows the quality of technology and the people who are carriers of this quality and technology. Soon there will be a special order from the Minister of Defense, both for pilots and for IT and cyber specialists, so that people can receive the appropriate recognition for the work they do, added Minister Zapryanov.
„The Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems Section at the Military Research Institute of the General Staff was established in 1988. Even then there was talk of artificial intelligence and expert systems. The “Information Protection“ was created in the early 1990s with the first concept and strategy for protecting information in computer system networks”, recalled Prof. Veselin Tselkov.
