President Radev: To Unlock the Full Potential of the F-16 of the Bulgarian Air Force, Technical Support and Regular Flight Operations Are Essential

The Head of State shared his impressions of the new F-16 fighter jets that Bulgaria has received.

“A wonderful aircraft with tremendous combat capabilities, but in order for these capabilities to be effectively realized, solid technical support and regular flight operations are essential. This means having a complete package of ground equipment, spare parts, consumables, technical documentation, training, and contracted services. All of this is mandatory for the aircraft to be operational,” Radev said.

He was asked whether all eight aircraft will arrive by the end of the year.

“Unfortunately, this package was drastically reduced when the contract was signed in 2019, which is why I imposed a veto and warned that without a full package, significant operational difficulties would arise. My veto was overridden, and this is exactly what is happening now. The first F-16 has been in Bulgaria for three months, but the number of flights it has carried out can be counted on one hand. In other words, enthusiasm and dedication from the flight engineers and technical staff alone are not enough to compensate for the lack of a fully functional ground support package and equipment,” Radev explained.

The President recommended that the government respond as quickly as possible and conclude a contract for integrated logistical support.

“A subsequent contract can be signed. I have spoken about hidden costs—they continually arise, but that’s aviation. Modern aviation requires substantial resources. A tremendous amount of work has been done on the infrastructure, but there is still much to be done,” Radev commented.

Photos by BTA

Rumen Radev emphasised that currently the aircraft can fly, but only until the first failure occurs.

“Failures in aviation are normal and expected to occur after a certain number of flight hours. That’s when the major challenges begin. This will delay the process of the aircraft assuming full combat duty, but the main criterion is the number of trained pilots. We will not soon have fully trained pilots capable of conducting full combat duty with the F-16. Apparently, in the coming years, when the F-16 begins to carry out any duty, it will be only for a small portion of the time. Most of the time, combat duty will still be performed by the MiG-29,” Radev said.