保加利亚空军

战斗序列 · Bulgaria

保加利亚空军

Военновъздушни сили · Военновъздушни сили на Република България

The Bulgarian Air Force (Военновъздушни сили), which traces itself to a balloon section of 20 April 1906 and flew one of Europe’s first combat sorties over Edirne in October 1912, was banned in 1919, rebuilt for a war over Sofia in 1943–1944, grew into a Warsaw Pact force of hundreds of MiGs, and in 2026 is caught between eight new F-16 Block 70s it cannot yet put on alert and a shrinking handful of MiG-29s it cannot easily keep flying.

国家标志The roundel: a thin white rim, then rings of red and green around a white centre, the colours of the national flag
8战斗机
5现役空军基地
1906创立
23已退役的类型
Photo: Toshonenov / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
国家保加利亚创立1906地位积极的总部Sofia指挥官Nikolai Rusev
故事

The Bulgarian Air Force story: balloons over Edirne, the defence of Sofia and the slow arrival of the F-16

1906–1918: balloons, Edirne and a Fokker over Sofia

Bulgarian military flying started with balloons. The army formed an aeronautical section on 20 April 1906, and in 1912 Lieutenants Yordan Kazandzhiev and Vasil Zlatarov built the balloon Sofia-1. In the First Balkan War Kazandzhiev went up to 600 metres over Edirne on 15 October 1912, and the next day a Bulgarian Albatros flew what the Ministry of Defence calls the first combat mission with aircraft participation, “the birthday of the military aviation of Bulgaria”. Wikipedia, summarising Bulgarian historians, counts 70 combat sorties including 11 bombing raids in that war. Bulgaria joined the Central Powers on 4 October 1915 with one aeroplane squadron of five aircraft. On 30 September 1916 Captain Marko Parvanov, flying a Fokker E.III, forced down a French Farman F.40 that had bombed Sofia — the museum at Krumovo records it as the first enemy aircraft shot down by a Bulgarian pilot. The service was small, reliant on German aircraft, and by 1918 had about ten serviceable machines.

1919–1941: banned, hidden and rebuilt

The Treaty of Neuilly of 27 November 1919 banned Bulgarian military aviation for twenty years. Wikipedia, citing a Bulgarian study, says at least 70 aircraft and 110 engines were destroyed at Bozhurishte in 1920, while a few were hidden from the Allied inspectors. Flying survived under civilian cover; the air force was formally re-established as an Air Army on 28 July 1934 and received battle standards from Tsar Boris III on 27 June 1937. German goodwill then filled the hangars: in 1938–1939 Bulgaria received captured Czechoslovak types, including 78 Avia B-534 biplane fighters, 32 Avia B-71 bombers and 62 Letov Š-328s, as well as Polish PZL designs and, from 1940, Messerschmitt Bf 109Es. When Bulgaria signed the Tripartite Pact on 1 March 1941 its modern fighter force was tiny; Wikipedia counts 18 Bf 109Es among 91 front-line machines at one point. The rebuilding was quick, but it tied the service to one supplier.

1943–1945: defending Sofia, then fighting Germany

The air war reached Bulgaria on 1 August 1943, when B-24s returning from the Ploieşti raid were intercepted by Bf 109s from Karlovo and Avia B-534s from Sofia; four Bulgarian pilots, among them Stoyan Stoyanov, scored their first claims, though only two B-24s are recorded as crashing in Bulgaria. From 14 November 1943 American and British bombers attacked Sofia repeatedly, culminating on 30 March 1944 when about 450 heavy bombers destroyed some 3,575 buildings. On 20 December 1943 Lieutenant Dimitar Spisarevski rammed a B-24 with his Bf 109G-2 and was killed. The defenders, flying Bf 109Gs and Dewoitine D.520s, were heavily outnumbered, and the totals are disputed: sources give between 60 and 185 Allied aircraft shot down, for between 19 and 23 Bulgarian pilots killed. After the Soviet invasion and the coup of 9 September 1944, the same air force turned on Germany, flying at least 1,200 and, by the Bulgarian count, 4,424 sorties in Yugoslavia and Hungary before combat ended on 2 December 1944.

1945–1989: a Warsaw Pact air force

The 1947 peace treaty capped the air force at 90 aircraft, but Soviet deliveries soon overwhelmed that ceiling. Il-2s, Il-10s and Tu-2s came first; in April 1951 30 Yak-23s reached Graf Ignatievo, and MiG-15s followed from September 1951, then MiG-17s in 1955, 40 MiG-19S in 1957 and MiG-21s from 1963. On 27 July 1955 two MiG-15s shot down El Al Flight 402, a Lockheed Constellation that had strayed into Bulgarian airspace, killing all 58 on board; Bulgaria first blamed the airliner, then apologised, said its pilots had been “too hasty” and agreed to compensate the families. In 1961 the service became the combined Air Defence and Air Force (PVO i VVS). By the 1980s Bulgarian Wikipedia counts about 226 MiG-21s, 90 MiG-23s and a handful of MiG-25s received over time; 40 Su-25s and about 21 Su-22s arrived in 1988, and the first MiG-29s in 1989. It was a large, Soviet-shaped force built for a war that never came.

1989–2019: cuts, NATO and the MiG-29 problem

After 1989 the force shrank to about 226 aircraft and the MiG-25s were grounded in 1991. It took its present name in 1992, swapped regiments for air bases in 1994 and, from 1998 to 2003, closed Gabrovnitsa, Balchik, Uzundzhovo, Shtraklevo, Stara Zagora, Dobrich, Ravnets, Cheshnegirovo and Dobroslavtsi. The MiG-23s went in 2003 and the Su-22s in 2004, the year Bulgaria joined NATO. Western types came slowly: 12 AS532 Cougars from a troubled 2005 Eurocopter contract, three C-27J Spartans from 2007. The fighter fleet was the weak point. The last MiG-21s retired on 18 December 2015, leaving a small number of MiG-29s dependent on Russian parts and engines; in 2017 the defence minister admitted pilots flew about 40 hours a year, and Italian Eurofighters helped police Bulgarian airspace that summer. Engine overhauls moved to Poland after a contract Parliament ratified in 2015, but in 2018 the government still paid Russia’s RSK MiG to overhaul eight MiG-29s, and sent Su-25s to Belarus in 2019.

2019–2026: the F-16 arrives, slowly

In December 2018 the government chose the F-16 over new Gripens and used Eurofighters; Parliament approved talks on 16 January 2019, the US approved eight F-16 Block 70s on 3 June 2019, and President Rumen Radev’s veto was overridden that July. Eight more followed in 2022. The first jet, handed over at Greenville on 31 January 2025, landed at Graf Ignatievo on 2 April 2025, then sat grounded by a system fault amid political claims of sabotage until it flew in Bulgarian airspace on 28 May. The eighth arrived on 16 December 2025. Yet in May 2026 the commander, Major General Nikolai Rusev, said the F-16s would not go on combat duty in 2026, and in August Lockheed Martin warned the second batch could slip to the second quarter of 2030. MiG-29s still stand alert at a cost of 86.4 million leva in 2026, Bulgaria has asked Poland and Hungary for more of them, and allies — Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Romania and Türkiye — share the watch.

The Treaty of Neuilly of 27 November 1919 banned Bulgarian military aviation for twenty years. Wikipedia, citing a Bulgarian study, says at least 70 aircraft and 110 engines were destroyed at Bozhurishte in 1920, while a few were hidden from the Allied inspectors.Bulgarian Air Force · verified 2026-09-29
一览

The Bulgarian Air Force in numbers

服务

本地名称
Военновъздушни силиThe name used on the air force’s own site, af.armf.bg. The full form used by Bulgarian Wikipedia is Военновъздушни сили на Република България (Air Force of the Republic of Bulgaria); the present name dates from 1992
创立
20 April 1906The date the army’s aeronautical (balloon) section was created. The Ministry of Defence dates a balloon team to 1903 and treats 16 October 1912, the first combat flight, as the birthday of Bulgarian military aviation. The air force was formally re-established as an Air Army on 28 July 1934 after the Neuilly ban
一部分
Bulgarian Armed ForcesUnder the Chief of Defence, Admiral Emil Eftimov, and the Ministry of Defence
总部
SofiaAir Force Command, 34 Eduard Totleben Boulevard, Sofia 1606
指挥官
Maj. Gen. Nikolai RusevNamed as commander in 2025 and 2026 reports; appointment date not confirmed
国防部长
Dimitar StoyanovIn office in July and August 2026; Atanas Zapryanov, minister during the F-16 deliveries of 2025, was caretaker minister again in March 2026

力量

人员
About 6,500–8,500Bulgarian Wikipedia gives about 6,500 and English Wikipedia 8,500 active personnel; neither figure was found on an official page, and the air force includes air defence missile and radar troops
战斗机
  • F-16C/D Block 70 — 8 delivered (2025), 8 more on order
  • MiG-29A/UB — 12–14 on strength
  • Su-25K/UBK — about 7–14 (disputed)

The F-16s were not yet on combat duty in 2026; the number of combat-ready MiG-29s is classified, and during the hijack alert of 30 June 2026 (an Airbus squawking 7500) only one of the two alert MiG-29s launched, according to former defence minister Tagarev (Sofia Globe, 27 July 2026)

运输
  • C-27J Spartan — 3
  • L-410UVP-E3 — 2
  • PC-12NG — 1
  • An-30 survey aircraft — 1

The Spartans fly with the 16th Air Base at Sofia-Vrazhdebna; counts of the smaller types are from Wikipedia

直升机
  • AS532AL Cougar — 12 delivered
  • Mi-24V — 4 active, about 6 stored
  • Mi-17 — 2
  • Bell 206B-3 — 6

All at the 24th Air Base, Krumovo, which keeps a 24-hour search and rescue watch and flies firefighting missions

教练
  • L-39ZA Albatros — about 6
  • PC-9M — 6
  • Zlín Z-242L — 4
  • Cabri G2 — 2

Counts from Wikipedia; an L-39 crash at Graf Ignatievo on 13 September 2024 killed two aviators

国防预算
$2.34 billion (2024), 2.05% of GDPEnglish Wikipedia’s figure. On 10 June 2026 the government adopted a plan to reach 5% of GDP by 2035, at least 3.5% of it core defence. Keeping the MiG-29s and Su-25s flying was budgeted at 114 million leva for 2026

基础设施

空军基地
  • Graf Ignatievo — 3rd Air Base, F-16 and MiG-29
  • Bezmer — 22nd Air Base, Su-25
  • Krumovo — 24th Air Base, helicopters
  • Sofia-Vrazhdebna — 16th Air Base, transport
  • Dolna Mitropoliya — 12th Air Base, training

The air force’s own structure page lists these five air bases

封闭式空军基地
  • Gabrovnitsa, Balchik, Uzundzhovo, Shtraklevo — 1998
  • Stara Zagora — 2000
  • Dobrich, Ravnets, Cheshnegirovo — 2001
  • Dobroslavtsi — 2003

Closed in the post-Cold War cuts of 1998–2003, per English and Bulgarian Wikipedia

快速反应警报
Two MiG-29s at Graf IgnatievoMiG-29s from the 3rd Air Base scramble for Bulgarian and NATO air policing; the F-16s were not expected to take over in 2026
Cross-border air policing
Romania, Greece, Türkiye, SpainMemoranda with Romania (2021) and Greece; Türkiye’s signed in Ankara in February 2024 and ratified on 8 August 2024; a trilateral agreement with Romania and Spain on 6 August 2026
F-16 infrastructure
49 projects at Graf IgnatievoThe new runway opened on 15 July 2024; more than half of the 49 projects were complete by December 2025
Aviation museum
Krumovo, opened 21 September 1991Opened with 45 aircraft and helicopters; a museum since 1994 and a branch of the National Military History Museum since 2005
结构

How the Bulgarian Air Force is organised

One command in Sofia over five numbered air bases; the air force also includes the air defence missile and radar troops. Every fighter is at Graf Ignatievo, the Su-25s are at Bezmer, the helicopters at Krumovo, transport at Sofia-Vrazhdebna and pilot training at Dolna Mitropoliya. Allied fighters share the air policing watch under agreements with Romania, Greece, Türkiye and Spain.

NR

Major General (генерал-майор)Nikolai RusevCommander of the Air Force (командир на ВВС)
保加利亚空军Военновъздушни сили
总部

空军司令部

Sofia

In Sofia, under the Chief of Defence, Admiral Emil Eftimov. Maj. Gen. Nikolai Rusev is named as commander in reports of 2025 and 2026; the date of his appointment has not been confirmed on an official page.

前线

3rd Air Base

Graf Ignatievo

Every Bulgarian fighter: the 1st and 2nd Fighter Squadrons with the last MiG-29s, which hold the two-aircraft air policing alert, and eight F-16 Block 70s delivered in 2025 that were not on combat duty in 2026. The rebuilt runway opened on 15 July 2024.

攻击

22nd Air Base

Bezmer

The Su-25K/UBK attack jets, 7 to 14 by disputed counts. Its NATO-funded 3,000-metre runway opened in 2016, and under the 2006 defence cooperation agreement Bezmer is a facility for joint use by US forces.

直升机

24th Air Base

Krumovo

AS532AL Cougars, Mi-24Vs, Mi-17s and Bell 206s on the west side of Plovdiv Airport, with a 24-hour search and rescue watch. The base is the successor of the 44th Helicopter Regiment of 1961, Bulgaria’s first helicopter unit.

运输

16th Air Base

Sofia-Vrazhdebna

The 1/16 Transport Squadron with three C-27J Spartans, L-410 Turbolets, a PC-12 and the An-30 survey aircraft, at Sofia Airport.

训练

12th Air Base

Dolna Mitropoliya

PC-9M, L-39ZA and Z-242L trainers and the aviation faculty of the Vasil Levski National Military University. The base first flew on 26 March 1942.

在服役

What the Bulgarian Air Force flies today

每种收费类型都链接到其在《野兽之书》中的页面（如果存在）。. 统计的是登记在册的飞机数量，而不是某一天可用的飞机数量。.

类型 角色 在服役 自从 单位 笔记
洛克希德·马丁F-16C/D Block 70战斗猎鹰在服役 多用途战斗机 8 2025 Eight delivered between 2 April and 16 December 2025: six single-seat F-16Cs and two two-seat F-16Ds. Eight more are on order.
米高扬 MiG-29A (9.12A) 和 MiG-29UB在服役 空中优势战斗机 1989 12–14 on strength. English Wikipedia’s inventory gives 12; its MiG-29 operators page gives 11 MiG-29s and 3 MiG-29UBs in 2025. Bulgarian Wikipedia counts 22 received in all.

更多的

The number combat-ready is classified.
苏霍伊 Su-25K 和 Su-25UBK在服役 近距离空中支援 1988 7–14, disputed. The Sofia Globe gave 14 on strength with about eight serviceable in 2019–2022; English Wikipedia lists 7.

更多的

Oryx lists 14 Bulgarian Su-25s bought by a NATO member and passed to Ukraine in April 2022, a claim not confirmed by Bulgaria; Bulgarian Su-25s were still flying in September 2022 and August 2026.
莱昂纳多（阿莱尼亚）C-27J 斯巴达在服役 战术运输 3 2007 Five ordered in 2006, cut to three in 2010.
Let L-410UVP-E3 Turbolet在服役 光运输 2 维基百科上有两个。.
Pilatus PC-12NG在服役 公用运输 1 一。.
安东诺夫 An-30在服役 Aerial survey (Open Skies) 1 一。.
Airbus Helicopters (Eurocopter) AS532AL Cougar在服役 Transport and combat search and rescue 12 12 delivered under a January 2005 contract, the last in November 2010; Wikipedia splits them into eight transport and four CSAR aircraft.

更多的

In November 2024 the minister said only part of the fleet was flyable and aimed for ten serviceable.
军用 Mi-24V在服役 攻击直升机 4 1979 Four active and about six stored per English Wikipedia; Bulgarian Wikipedia counts 44 received in all.
米-17（米-8系列）在服役 运输直升机 2 Two per English Wikipedia.
贝尔206B-3喷气游骑兵在服役 轻型多用途和训练直升机 6 Six, four of them used for training, per Wikipedia.
Aero L-39ZA 信天翁在服役 喷气式教练机和轻型攻击机 6 About six per English Wikipedia, which also mentions an overhaul contract with Aero Vodochody.
Pilatus PC-9M在服役 基础教练 6 Six per English Wikipedia.
Zlín Z-242L在服役 主教练 4 Four per English Wikipedia.
Guimbal Cabri G2在服役 训练直升机 2 Two per English Wikipedia.
美洲狮12
F-16 Block 708
贝尔2066
L-396
PC-96
米-244
Z-2424
C-27J3

已下单

类型 已订购 首批交付 笔记
洛克希德·马丁F-16C/D Block 70战斗猎鹰已下单 8 Second batch, approved by Parliament in November 2022 with spares and weapons; planned for the end of 2027, but on 14 August 2026 Lockheed Martin told the ministry it could slip to the second quarter of 2030.

更多的

Bulgaria has also asked SACEUR and the US for a squadron of second-hand F-16s.
AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Block II missiles已下单 125 Proposed US sale published on 1 June 2026, estimated at $957 million: 125 AIM-120C-8s, five guidance sections and four AIM-9X Block IIs. A notification, not yet a contract.
Thales Ground Master 400 radar已下单 7 2027 Contract of 19 June 2025 worth 195 million euro; three radars within 24 months, four more 13 months later, complete by 2029. First delivery year inferred from the 24-month schedule.
以前运营

Every type the Bulgarian Air Force has retired

23 types, from the Albatros and Blériot XXI to the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (F-13, M, MF, bis, UM). 峰值数字是指飞机在整个服役期内接收的机身数量，而不是任何某一天的机队规模。.

类型 角色 顶峰 已上菜 被替换为 笔记
米高扬-古列维奇 MiG-21（F-13、M、MF、bis、UM） 战斗机 1963–2015 MiG-29 and F-16 About 226 in all per Bulgarian Wikipedia, including 36 MiG-21bis received in 1983 for one regiment; the full total was not checked against a primary source.
苏霍伊 Su-22M4 和 Su-22UM3 战斗轰炸机和侦察机 1988–2004 21–23: English Wikipedia gives 21 Su-22M4/UM-3, Bulgarian Wikipedia 23.
米格-23 战斗机和战斗轰炸机 90 90 per Bulgarian Wikipedia.
米格-25 侦察 4 Four per Bulgarian Wikipedia.
米格-19S、P 和 PM 战斗机 1957–1978 米格-21MF About 90 per Bulgarian Wikipedia; 40 MiG-19S arrived in September 1957 and 12 MiG-19Ps in May 1959.
容克 Ju 87 R-2 和 D-5 俯冲轰炸机 1943–1945 白介素-2 At least 32 D-5s, received January to May 1944, plus earlier R-2s.
福克 E.III 战斗机 1916–1918
LFG Roland D.II 战斗机 6 1917–1918 Six delivered in June 1917.
Albatros and Blériot XXI 第一架军用飞机 1912–1913 Five aircraft were ordered in 1912; exact numbers flown in the Balkan Wars not confirmed.
米高扬-古列维奇 MiG-17F 和 PF 战斗机 94 1955年— 94 per Bulgarian Wikipedia.
米高扬-古列维奇 MiG-15 和 MiG-15bis 战斗机 78 1951年— 78 per Bulgarian Wikipedia.
雅科夫列夫 Yak-23 和 Yak-17UTI 战斗机 34 1951年— 米格-15 30 Yak-23 and 4 Yak-17U two-seaters.
伊尔-28 轰炸机
伊尔-2 地面攻击 1945年—
伊尔-10 地面攻击
图波列夫 Tu-2 轰炸机
Aero L-29 Delfín 喷气式教练机 L-39 Bulgarian Wikipedia’s table gives 12, which looks low; the figure is UNVERIFIED.
Mil Mi-4 and Mi-1 Transport and liaison helicopters 57 1961年— 49 Mi-4 and 8 Mi-1 by the end of 1963.
梅塞施密特 Bf 109E、G-2 和 G-6 战斗机 1940年—
德沃蒂纳 D.520 战斗机 1943年— The Krumovo museum records 23 D.520s engaged on 10 January 1944.
Avia B-534 双翼战斗机 78 1939年— 78 ex-Czechoslovak aircraft received from Germany.
莱托夫 Š-328 侦察双翼机 62 1939年— 62 ex-Czechoslovak aircraft.
Avia B-71 (licence-built Tupolev SB) 轰炸机 32 1939年— 32 ex-Czechoslovak aircraft.
空军基地

Where the Bulgarian Air Force flies from

黑色销钉是活动底座，空心销钉是已闭合的底座。. Nine airfields closed in the cuts of 1998–2003, from Gabrovnitsa, Balchik, Uzundzhovo and Shtraklevo in 1998 to Dobroslavtsi in 2003; several were demolished, and others became civil airports. 没有公布机场数据的条目不带 PIN 码。.

活跃空军基地 关闭或预订点击图钉即可打开基础页面
根据 国际民航组织 地位 跑道 部队和飞机
BezmerYambol Province 积极的 12/303,000 米
Dolna MitropoliyaPleven Province LBPL 积极的
Graf IgnatievoPlovdiv Province LBPG 积极的
KrumovoPlovdiv Province LBPD 积极的
  • 24th Air Base helicopter squadrons: AS532AL Cougar, 米-24V, 米-17, Bell 206B-3
VrazhdebnaSofia AirportSofia City Province LBSF 积极的
  • 1/16 Transport Squadron: C-27J Spartan (3), L-410UVP-E Turbolet, PC-12NG, An-30
DobroslavtsiSofia City Province LBSD 2003年关闭
CheshnegirovoPlovdiv Province LBPS 2001年关闭
DobrichDobrich Province 2001年关闭
RavnetsBurgas Province LBBR 2001年关闭
Stara ZagoraStara Zagora Province LBSZ 2000年关闭
  • 23rd Helicopter Air Base: 米-24
BalchikDobrich Province LBWB 1998年关闭
GabrovnitsaMontana Province LBMG 1998年关闭
  • 11th Fighter Air Regiment, then 2nd Squadron of the 18th Fighter Air Regiment
ShtraklevoRuseRuse Province LBRS 1998年关闭
  • 11th Training Air Base
UzundzhovoHaskovo Province 1998年关闭

没有找到符合搜索结果的空军基地。.

战斗序列

Who is stationed where in the Bulgarian Air Force

按基地排列飞行部队，当前部队优先。. Bulgaria’s regiments became numbered air bases in 1994, and the Cold War regiments appear under the airfields they flew from; the number of the new F-16 squadron has not been confirmed and is not given. 如果不同来源对日期或单位有分歧，条目中会注明。.

格拉夫·伊格纳季耶沃空军基地 · LBPG3rd Air Base, Bulgarian Air Force
1st Fighter Squadron战斗机中队·现役
MiG-29A and MiG-29UB
2nd Fighter Squadron战斗机中队·现役
MiG-29A and MiG-29UB
F-16 Block 70 element, 3rd Air BaseFighter unit (conversion) · active
F-16C/D Block 70 (8 delivered by December 2025)
L-39ZA element, 3rd Air BaseJet trainer / light attack element · active
L-39ZA 信天翁
19th Fighter Air Regiment1951–1994
Yak-23, MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-19, MiG-21
贝兹默尔空军基地 · 22nd Air Base, Bulgarian Air Force; commander Colonel Milen Dimitrov
22nd Air Base (Su-25 squadron)Attack aviation · active
Su-25K and Su-25UBK
Krumovo · LBPD24th Air Base, Bulgarian Air Force
24th Air Base helicopter squadronsHelicopter squadrons · active
AS532AL Cougar, 米-24V, 米-17, Bell 206B-3
Vrazhdebna (Sofia Airport) · LBSF16th Air Base, Bulgarian Air Force
1/16 Transport Squadron运输中队 · 现役
C-27J Spartan (3), L-410UVP-E Turbolet, PC-12NG, An-30
Dolna Mitropoliya · LBPL12th Air Base, Bulgarian Air Force
12th Air Base training squadronsTraining squadrons · active
PC-9M, L-39ZA 信天翁, Z-242L

没有符合搜索条件的单位。.

时间线

Bulgarian Air Force milestones, 1914 to today

1906

20 April: the army forms an aeronautical (balloon) section, the date the air force counts as its founding.

1912

13 August: Simeon Petrov flies a Blériot XXI. 15–16 October: balloon observation and the first combat flight by an Albatros near Edirne in the First Balkan War.

1915

4 October: Bulgaria enters the First World War with one aeroplane squadron of five aircraft.

1916

30 September: Captain Marko Parvanov forces down a French Farman F.40 over Sofia, the first enemy aircraft shot down by a Bulgarian pilot.

1919

27 November: the Treaty of Neuilly bans Bulgarian military aviation; aircraft are destroyed at Bozhurishte in 1920.

1934

28 July: the air force is officially re-established as an Air Army; Tsar Boris III presents battle standards on 27 June 1937.

1943

1 August: first claims against US B-24s returning from Ploieşti. 20 December: Dimitar Spisarevski rams a B-24 over Sofia and is killed.

1944

30 March: the heaviest raid on Sofia. From 9 September the air force fights Germany; combat ends on 2 December.

1951

April: first jets, 30 Yak-23s, at Graf Ignatievo; MiG-15s follow from September.

1955

27 July: two MiG-15s shoot down El Al Flight 402 over Bulgaria, killing all 58 on board.

1961

The 44th Helicopter Regiment, the first helicopter unit, is formed; the service becomes the Air Defence and Air Force (PVO i VVS).

1988

Su-25s and Su-22s arrive; the first MiG-29s follow in 1989.

1994

The regiments become air bases; the 3rd Fighter Air Base is formed at Graf Ignatievo on 18 August.

2004

Bulgaria joins NATO; the last Su-22s are withdrawn after the MiG-23s went in 2003.

2015

18 December: the last MiG-21s are retired.

2019

3 June: the US approves eight F-16 Block 70s; the deal survives a presidential veto in July. Su-25s go to Belarus for overhaul.

2025

2 April: the first F-16 lands at Graf Ignatievo; the eighth arrives on 16 December and the batch is celebrated on 18 December.

2026

10 June: plan to reach 5% of GDP on defence by 2035. July: MiG-29s sought from Poland and Hungary. 14 August: second F-16 batch may slip to 2030.

战斗记录

保加利亚空军参与过的每一场战争

记录中有出击次数和损失的地方都如实记录，没有记录的地方则保持空白。.

6冲突
1912第一的
32飞机失事
0被杀
  • 巴尔干战争 1912–1913 Reconnaissance, bombing and balloon observation for the Bulgarian army
  • 第一次世界大战 1915–1918 Reconnaissance and air defence alongside German units on the Macedonian front
  • 保加利亚的防空 1943–1944 Intercepted US and British bombing raids on Sofia and other cities
  • 对德战争 1944 Ground attack, reconnaissance and transport in support of the Bulgarian army, now fighting on the Soviet side
  • 以色列航空402号航班被击落 1955 Two MiG-15s intercepted and shot down an Israeli airliner that had strayed into Bulgarian airspace

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摘自杂志

Bulgarian Air Force news from Afterburner

Everything MiGFlug’s magazine has published on the Bulgarian Air Force and the aircraft it flies. 此列表会自动刷新——新的 Afterburner 文章将自动显示在此处。.

《Afterburner》中的所有故事

问答

Everything people ask about the Bulgarian Air Force

What is the Bulgarian Air Force called in Bulgarian?
Военновъздушни сили (Voennovazdushni sili, VVS), the name on the air force’s own website, af.armf.bg; the full form is Военновъздушни сили на Република България, the Air Force of the Republic of Bulgaria. It took its present name in 1992; from 1961 it had been the combined Air Defence and Air Force.
What fighter jets does Bulgaria fly in 2026?
Two types. Eight new F-16C/D Block 70s were delivered in 2025, but the commander said they would not go on combat duty in 2026, so the alert is still flown by about a dozen Soviet-era 米格-29 at Graf Ignatievo. The 苏-25 attack jets fly from Bezmer.
How many F-16s does Bulgaria have?
Eight F-16 Block 70 arrived between 2 April and 16 December 2025, six single-seaters and two two-seaters. Eight more were ordered in 2022 for delivery by the end of 2027, but in August 2026 Lockheed Martin warned they could slip to the second quarter of 2030.
Why did Bulgaria choose the F-16?
In December 2018 the government picked eight new F-16 over new Gripens from Sweden and used Eurofighters from Italy; Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said pilots judged the F-16 the better aircraft. A 2017 report had favoured the Gripen before the process was restarted. The US approved the sale on 3 June 2019 and Parliament overrode President Rumen Radev’s veto that July.
Why was Bulgaria’s first F-16 grounded?
The first jet, tail number 301, landed at Graf Ignatievo on 2 April 2025 with what the commander called “a deviation in one of the systems”. Politicians and commentators alleged sabotage or espionage; the ministry and the air force said it was a routine technical problem worked through with Lockheed Martin, and the aircraft flew in Bulgarian airspace on 28 May 2025.
Why does Bulgaria still fly the MiG-29?
Because the F-16s are not yet operational and Bulgaria has only one squadron of them. The 米格-29 arrived in 1989 and depend on Soviet-designed engines and parts: eight were overhauled by Russia’s RSK MiG after 2018, while engines have gone to Poland since 2015. Keeping MiG-29s and Su-25s flying was budgeted at 114 million leva for 2026, and in July 2026 Bulgaria asked Poland and Hungary for spare parts and, according to Poland’s defence minister, whole aircraft.
Did Bulgaria give its Su-25s to Ukraine?
Not according to anything Bulgaria has confirmed. The Oryx blog lists 14 Bulgarian 苏-25 as bought by a NATO member and passed to Ukraine in April 2022, but a Bulgarian Su-25 crashed at Bezmer in September 2022 and the ministry sent Su-25s to watch the Romanian border in 2026. Reported strength is 7–14.
When was the Bulgarian Air Force founded?
It dates itself to 20 April 1906, when the army formed an aeronautical section to fly observation balloons. The Ministry of Defence calls 16 October 1912, the first combat flight near Edirne in the First Balkan War, the birthday of Bulgarian military aviation.
Did Bulgaria fly the first combat aircraft mission in Europe?
Bulgarian sources say so: on 16 October 1912 an Albatros flew a combat mission near Edirne, and Wikipedia counts 70 combat sorties including 11 bombing raids in the First Balkan War. The claim depends on definitions — Italy had used aircraft in Libya in 1911 — so it is best described as one of the first combat uses of aircraft in Europe.
Did Bulgarian pilots fight American bombers in the Second World War?
Yes. From 1 August 1943 to 1944 Bulgarian Bf 109, Dewoitine D.520s 和 Avia B-534s fought US and British raids on Sofia. On 20 December 1943 Dimitar Spisarevski rammed a B-24 and was killed. Totals are disputed: between 60 and 185 Allied aircraft claimed, for 19 to 23 Bulgarian pilots killed.

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Photographs: Photo: Toshonenov / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jenna Bond / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · Photo: Srđan Popović / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Photo: Vislupus / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: U.S. Army 126PAOC by Sgt. Robert Douglas / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · Photo: Biser Todorov / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Photo: Acroterion / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Ericka Woolever / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · Photo: KGG1951 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Photo (Z-242L in other markings shown): Samson Ng . D201@EAL / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: ZLEA / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: U.S. Embassy photo by Army Maj. Dana Hampton / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · Photo: Tourbillon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · Photo (MiG-15 in other markings shown): Tourbillon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · Photo (German Ju 87 shown): Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) · Photo (Fokker E.III reproduction shown): Chris Light / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)