Bulgarian Air Force

Bulgarian Air Force
Logo of the Bulgarian Air Force
Active	1906–present
Country	Bulgaria
Allegiance	NATO
Type	Air force
Role	Defence of Bulgarian air space
Size	100 aircraft 6,500 active duty personnel
Anniversaries	16th October
Website	http://airforce.mod.bg/bg/
Commanders
Commander	Major General Tsanko Stoychev
Vice Commander	Brigadier General Anatoliy Krustev
Insignia
Roundel
Aircraft flown
Attack	Su-25, Mi-24
Fighter	MiG-29
Helicopter	Mi-17, Mi-24, Eurocopter AS 532 Cougar, Bell 206
Reconnaissance	An-30
Trainer	L-39, PC-9
Transport	L-410, C-27J Spartan, Pilatus PC-12, Airbus A319, Dassault Falcon 2000

100 aircraft

The Bulgarian Air Force (Bulgarian: Военновъздушни сили) is one of the three branches 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 Major General Constantin Popov.

The Bulgarian Air Force dates back to the end of the 19th century. In 1892 at the Plovdiv International Fair two lieutenants of the Bulgarian Army flew in the ‘La France’ balloon of the Frenchman Godard. Later, inspired by the flight, they succeeded to convince the General Staff that the Bulgarian Army should build a balloon force. The Imperial Aviation School in St. Petersburg enrolled Lieutenant Vasil Zlatarov as a student, following numerous refusals from military schools around Europe to teach Bulgarian officers to use airships. On 20 April 1906 "Vazduhoplavatelno Otdelenie" (roughly translated as Aviation Squad) was created to operate observation balloons for the army, initially being a part of Railway Battalion. After graduation Lt. Zlatarov was appointed its first commander. After operating small balloons, in 1911 a bigger Godard balloon was bought, and in 1912 the first balloon Sofia-1 was constructed in Bulgaria, of materials bought from Russia.