US delays F-16 deliveries to Bulgaria for fear of Russia
The Euractiv portal, referring to the statements of two former Bulgarian defense ministers, reported that the United States postponed the delivery of F-16s to Bulgaria, fearing that classified information would leak to Russia.
As the country’s former Minister of Defense Velizar Chalamanov stated, Bulgaria “has problems with the protection of classified information”, and in this regard, the delivery of fighters is being delayed.
According to another former head of the Ministry of Defense, Todor Tagayev, secret technologies for the production of combat aircraft could end up in the hands of the Russians. For example, Russia still has access to the Graf Ignativo military air base, which is located not far from Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria.
“There should be an 110% guarantee that the Russians will not stand there,” the former minister noted.
Last year, Bulgarian authorities reported that they had identified a group of people in the Ministry of Defense suspected of spying for Russia, the alleged goal of which was to obtain information about F-16 fighters, the portal explains.
Earlier, Bulgarian Defense Minister Stefan Yaniv said that shipments of US F-16 fighters purchased by Bulgaria will be delayed for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The contract for F-16 Block 70 worth $1.26 billion entered into force in July 2019. Bulgaria was supposed to receive the first fighter by mid-2023, and four more aircraft by the end of the same year, and the rest in the first quarter of 2024.
