Spain will send 130 military personnel and four fighter jets to Bulgaria

The Spanish Air Force will send 130 military personnel and 4 Eurofighter Typhoon aircrafts to Bulgaria. The fighter jets and crews will carry out tasks of enhanced protection of the Bulgarian airspace together with the Bulgarian military until the end of March.

The Ministry of Defence on February 9 said that the first Spanish fighter jets are expected to land by the end of the week at Graf Ignatyevo Air Base.

According to BNT sources, the Spanish Air Force's Eurofighter Typhoon aircrafts will arrive in Bulgaria on Friday. 10 pilots are coming with them. The duty crews, together with their Bulgarian counterparts who fly MiG-29s, will carry out airborne area of duty, interception, visual reconnaissance and escort tasks. At the same time, the Bulgarian Air Force will continue to fulfil its national commitments to carry out standby duties in the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System.

Spanish Air Force ground personnel have been at the airbase for 10 days. The delivery of the necessary equipment continues with lorries and transport aircraft. Brigadier General Nikolai Rusev, the commander of Graf Ignatyevo Air Base, confirmed for BNT today that he expects the joint work of the Bulgarian and Spanish crews to start next week. He also made an important clarification - the joint task will be on the ground and not in the air.

"The joint execution of the air policing mission does not mean that the aircrafts take off at the same time and fly together in the air. It is joint to the extent that on the ground we are on duty at the same time. If either the Bulgarian or Spanish pair of aircrafts on duty need to take off, if necessary one will take off to support the other, but we do not fly in mixed groups. We each perform our respective task and complement each other in the air, but we do not fly together. We are on joint duty simultaneously on the ground, so the term should not mislead you. Joint tasks like training missions during exercises in Bulgaria, that's something different. This is a combat mission in peacetime," said Brigadier General Nikolai Rusev.

The Spanish fighter jets, equipment and military personnel will remain in Bulgaria until the end of March. They will take off and land only at Graf Ignatyevo airbase. Bulgarian fighter jets will be given priority in the performance of joint airspace protection tasks.