An exchange of remarks in absentia between GERB and "We continue the change" regarding the purchase of a fire extinguishing system for "Spartan" aircraft.
GERB
GERB MP Hristo Gadzhev wrote on Facebook that in 2022 the "Petkov" government purchased a fire extinguishing system for "Spartan" aircraft for nearly 3.350 million euros. He points out that three years later it cannot be put into operation and that it may be possible in the fourth, but there are doubts about its effectiveness, Gadzhev explains.
The MP asks why this system was purchased at all. “This adventure is a black example of government waste of public funds and should be seriously considered in the current initiatives for the purchase of aircraft for firefighting“, Gadzhev pointed out.
"We continue the change"
The following is a position of the PP, published on Facebook. “In an attempt to divert attention from their scandalous rule, GERB is digging into the history of “We continue the change“ and looking for "a hair in the egg". The MP from the ruling majority, Hristo Gadzhev, got involved inadequately in the topic of fires not to provide a solution to the crisis and the real problems of the people at the moment, but to attack the PP“, the position says.
It says that Petkov's government is the first to take advantage of the opportunity provided in it, 16 years after the contract for the purchase of “Spartan“ from 2006, to equip the planes with fire-fighting containers, and it is recalled that the “Petkov“ cabinet was overthrown in the summer of 2022 after only eight months in office“.
“Why were the Spartan planes not equipped during the GERB governments? The contract granting this opportunity dates back to 2006, and GERB ruled from 2009 to 2021. In neighboring Romania, the system has been operating since 2017. Why has the Air Force not had trained and qualified pilots in the years since the “Petkov“ cabinet initiated the process? These are all questions that the ruling party should seek answers to and solutions to the current problem with fires in its ranks, instead of attacking the opposition and transferring the problem “from the sick head to the healthy one”, writes PP.
Ministry of Defense
Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov, in response to a question from Gadzhev, explained on the subject that numerous restrictions have been defined in the preparation for the mission “Landing of Guardian fire-fighting containers“ with a "Spartan" aircraft.
The training for the use of Guardian containers was carried out on a "Spartan" aircraft simulator at "LEONARDO S.p.A Aircraft Division", Italy, at Vrazhdebna airbase and with the performance of training flights for the landing of Guardian containers at Cheshnegirovo airport, explains Atanas Zapryanov in his response. In August 2023, after the completion of the flight training, the Air Force (AVF) analyzed and evaluated the results of the preparation for the mission "Landing of Guardian firefighting containers" with a "Spartan" aircraft, in which numerous limitations and problematic issues related to flight safety have been defined.
Crews prepared and admitted to the "Airborne cargo landing with containers - Combat/Container Delivery System (C.D.S.)" mission are allowed to prepare for firefighting with Guardian containers. Despite the insistence of the BBC from "LEONARDO S.p.A Aircraft Division" they missed a stage of the preparation, namely - landing of light and medium cargo containers. The program of "LEONARDO S.p.A Aircraft Division" for flight training was carried out as part of a mixed crew and did not include the performance of a flight for the landing of Guardian containers with only a Bulgarian crew, the minister also replied.
As of August 1, 2025, the two pilots, certified on June 22, 2023 for the landing of Guardian containers, have not reached the conditions for performing the task of landing cargo from the air as part of a crew. Crews familiar with established techniques, tactics and procedures (TTP) for aerial firefighting with Guardian containers and safety rules and measures prepared for them are allowed to perform the mission. Such are not available and as of August 1, 2025, the Air Force has not received information about an initiative of the General Directorate "Fire Safety and Population Protection". Using a Guardian system without available TTPs will lead to an exponential decrease in efficiency, an increase in risk, and a dangerous decrease in the level of safety, explains Atanas Zapryanov.
The training of the designated crews from Vrazhdebna Air Base for airdropping cargo with containers is underway. When the conditions are met and the necessary experience is gained, it is planned that some of them will begin training for airdropping Guardian containers. Regular training sessions on a simulator, which is available to the Romanian Air Force, are also planned, Zapryanov also points out.
The actual execution of tasks will take place after the completion of full preparation and a detailed assessment of the situation and the level of acceptable risk, the minister also points out.
The Guardian fire extinguishing system was obtained as a result of the contract for the purchase of Spartan aircraft, the price of which is 6.7 million euros, Atanas Zapryanov also points out.
Hristo Gadzhev
In the meantime, a new response to the response came from Hristo Gadzhev, who wrote on his social media profile that sometimes it is better to remain silent than to expose yourself.
"Apparently, We Continue the Change do not know this wisdom. Today they exposed themselves again. They did a favor (selflessly or not) to a supplier company, and they are pretending to be heroes. All with the idea of hiding what incompetents they were. To make the truth clear - I call on the Ministry of Defense to publish when and what proposals we received for the implementation of the offset. As well as whether it was not clear even then what the prices for exploitation were and whether it would have been possible to exploit it at all. Lest it turn out that everything was in the interest of a private company, not the state. Then will they bear responsibility? In the end, change (as well as lies) have short legs," Gadzhev points out in his Facebook post.