Military of Bulgaria
| Bulgarian Army |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | 1878 |
| Current form | 2002 |
| Service branches |
 Bulgarian Land Forces Bulgarian Air Force Bulgarian Navy
|
| Headquarters | Sofia |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev |
| Minister of Defence | Stefan Yanev (general) |
| Chief of the Defence | Vice admiral Emil Eftimov |
| Manpower | |
| Military age | 18 years of age |
| Conscription | No |
| Available for military service |
3,208,526, age 16–49 (2008 est.) |
| Fit for military service |
2,320,955, age 16–49 (2008 est.) |
| Reaching military age annually |
63,444 (2008 est.) |
| Active personnel | 46,712 |
| Reserve personnel | 302,500 |
| Deployed personnel | See below |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | US$1.190 billion (2009) |
| Percent of GDP | 1.98% (2009) |
| Industry | |
| Domestic suppliers | Arsenal Corporation |
| Foreign suppliers |
 Italy Australia Germany Pakistan Russia United States China France Brazil United KingdomFormer:  Soviet Union
|
| Annual exports | €210,000,000 (2008) €145,000,000 (2009) €260,000,000 (2010), €232,000,000 (2011) €219,412,155 (2012) |
| Related articles | |
| History |
Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) Serbo-Bulgarian War First Balkan War Second Balkan War World War I War of the Stray Dog World War II Incident at Petrich Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Iraq War War in Afghanistan (2001–present) 2011 military intervention in Libya |
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 Rosen Plevneliev). The Ministry of Defence is in charge of political leadership while overall military command remains in the hands of the Defence Staff, headed by the Chief of the Defence (formerly called the Chief of the General Staff). There are three main branches, named literally the Land Forces, the Air Forces and the Naval Forces and the term "Bulgarian Army" encompasses them all together.
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 (1915–1918) and Second World War (1941–1945), 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. Since the Fall of Communism, the political leadership decided to pursue a pro-NATO policy, thus reducing military personnel and weaponry. Bulgaria joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on 29 March 2004 and currently maintains a total 776 deployed troops in three countries.
The patron saint of the Bulgarian Army is St. George. The Armed Forces Day or St. George's Day (6 May) is an official holiday in Bulgaria.
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