First F-16 Block 70 fighter jet arrives in Bulgaria
The first F-16 Block 70 fighter jet landed in Bulgaria on April 2. The two-seat F-16D variant was received at Graf Ignatievo Air Base in the central region of the country.
The aircraft departed from Lockheed Martin’s facility in Greenville, South Carolina, on March 31, and was supported by an Air National Guard KC-135 tanker for the flight to Europe.
Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov welcomed the Lockheed Martin jet, praising “Bulgaria’s strategic partnership with the United States.”
Bulgaria has acquired 16 F-16s to replace the aging MiG-29s in service since the Cold War.
The first order for eight fighters from Lockheed was placed in 2019, but another eight F-16s were purchased in 2022 and are expected to be delivered by 2027.
By the beginning of the year, three aircraft had been completed in Greenville, one F-16C and two F-16Ds.
Bulgaria is the second European country to receive the F-16 Block 70, after Slovakia. The nation joined NATO in 2004.
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