Bulgarian Armed Forces

[bularab]

The Military of Bulgaria, officially the Bulgarian Army (Bulgarian: Българска армия) represents the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria. The Commander-in-Chief is the President of Bulgaria (currently Georgi Parvanov). The Ministry of Defence is in charge of political leadership while military command remains in the hands of the General Staff, headed by the Chief of Staff. There are three main branches - the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force.
Throughout history, the army has played a major role in defending the country's sovereignty. Only several years after its liberation (1878), Bulgaria became a regional military power and was involved in several major wars - Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885), First Balkan War (1912–13), Second Balkan War (1913), First World War (1915–1919) and Second World War (1941–1944), during which the Army gained significant combat experience. During the Cold War the People's Republic of Bulgaria maintained one of the largest militaries in the Warsaw Pact, numbering an estimated 152,000 troops in 1988.[4] Since the Fall of Communism, the country's political leadership decided to pursue a pro-NATO policy, thus reducing military personnel and weaponry. Bulgaria joined the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004, and currently maintains a total 776 deployed troops in three countries.
The patron saint of the Bulgarian Army is St. George. The Army day or St. George's Day (6 May) is an official holiday in the country.

 

[bularab]

The Bulgarian Land Forces are one of the service branches of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. Their existence is to be traced back to the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681. In more recent history the Land Forces have played an active role in the Bulgarian participation in the Balkan Wars,World War I and World War II. The Bulgarian Land Forces are scheduled to become fully professional by 1 January 2008, bringing an end to mandatory military service. The Bulgarian Air Force and Naval Forces are already fully professional.
The current Land Forces commander, who took up his post in 2006, is Major General Ivan Kirev Dobrev.

 

[bularab]

The Bulgarian Air Force (Bulgarian: Военновъздушни сили, ВВС) is a branch of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Bulgarian airspace, to provide aerial support and to assist the Land Forces in case of war. The Bulgarian Air Force is one of the oldest air forces in Europe and the world. In recent times it has been actively taking part in numerous NATO missions and exercises in Europe. The current commanding officer of the Bulgarian Air Force is Lieutenant-General Simeon Simeonov.

 

[bularab]

The Bulgarian Navy (Bulgarian: Военноморски сили на Република България, Voennomorski sili na Republika Balgariya) is the navy of Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. It has been largely overlooked in the reforms that Bulgaria had to go through in order to comply with NATO standards, mostly because of the great expense involved and the fact that naval assaults are not considered to be a great concern for the country's security. That is why three of the four combat submarines (excluding Slava) are now docked and have been out of operation for some time. The last one should be decomissioned at November 2011. Only the more modern frigates, corvettes and missile crafts are on active duty.
In order to meet at least some of the NATO requirements, in 2005 the Bulgarian government bought from Belgium a Wielingen-class frigate, the BNS Wandelaar (F-912) (built in 1977), and renamed it to the BG Drazki. In 2005, bulgarian ship Smeli for first time took part as full NATO member in NATO OAE (Operation Active Endaevour). In 2006, following a decision of the Bulgarian Parliament, Drazki took part in the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), patrolling the territorial waters of Lebanon under German command. This was the first time ever the Bulgarian Navy took part in an international peacekeeping operation. The Bulgarian government purchased two Wielingen-class frigates and one Tripartite minehunter in 2007.
The Bulgarian Navy is centred in two main bases. One is near the city of Varna. The other is Atiya Naval Base, near the city of Burgas.

 

[bularab]

MiG-29

 

[bularab]

Air Force Water Training Exercise

 

[bularab]

Sukhoi Su-25 and U.S plane (Spartan?) in the background:

 

[indian_sukhoi]

Thanks for sharing,..........Bulgaria has huge inventory of Mig-21s

 

[Koovie]

nice pics! can you post some special forces pics too?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

This is Bulgarian SS-21

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Bulgarian mt-lb on parede

T-72 and BMP-1

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

..and US F-16 last year in airbase Graf Ignatievo

 

[Kunal Biswas]

BMP-21

BMP-1

 

[Kunal Biswas]

s-300

C-125 Neva

C-75 Volhov

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

with night vision

 

[bularab]

I think these are our special forces, not sure although:

S-20 Gargoyle

Spartan C-27J

Drazki after mission to Libya:

 

[bularab]

Surface-to-air missile training with Serbia, September 2010

 

[ashdoc]

According to Parag Khanna writing in his book The second world , Bulgaria has a population dwindling towards only 5 million , and its economy is dominated by the turks .

He says that Bulgaria is so small that it is in need more of a mayor rather than a president , and it is nothing but an extension of the turkish city of istanbul , to the extent that he calls it ' istanbulgaria ' .

Is this true ??