It was welcomed by Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov, Air Force Commander Major General Nikolay Rusev, and Colonel Metodi Orlov, Commander of the Third Air Base. The newly arrived jet is a single-seat combat aircraft with tail number 313.
According to the Defence Ministry, technical and flight acceptance procedures for the aircraft are now underway. This follows the arrival of the first Bulgarian F-16 Block 70 – a trainer version – in April this year.
“The process of integrating the new F-16 Block 70 platform into our Air Force and the Bulgarian Army continues successfully,” said Admiral Emil Eftimov, Chief of Defence. “Welcome to our second new combat aircraft, which arrived today at the Third Air Base.”
Admiral Eftimov added: “We are proceeding with the reception and operational integration of the new jets. The goal remains unchanged – to receive all eight F-16s under the first contract by the end of this year.”
He emphasised that work is ongoing to meet the target of achieving initial operational capability within the scheduled timeframe. The Ministry reiterated that a total of eight F-16s are due for delivery under the 2019 agreement by the end of 2025.
A second contract will see an additional eight aircraft delivered by the end of 2027, completing a full squadron of 16 F-16 Block 70 jets. As of late May, the technical acceptance of the first aircraft, tail number 301, had been completed, with flight acceptance currently in progress.
