Poland will undertake the repairs and maintenance of Bulgarian MiG-29s to extend their service life.

The Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria reported this. This would include repairing and selling the engines for the fighter jets.

Dimitar Stoyanov, Bulgarian Defense Minister, mentioned that in early August, Bulgaria sent a request to the Polish side to purchase or repair six MiG-29 engines.

He also noted that the Polish Ministry of Defense decided to decommission one MiG-29 aircraft and prepare its engines to be sold to Bulgaria.

“The Ministry of Defense received information that next week, Poland will offer a draft purchase contract for the two engines,” Stoyanov emphasized.

The draft agreement of the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense to repair six engines was already sent to Poland. It is expected that the agreement will be implemented by the end of 2022.

“The interim government’s move to procure two and possibly repair six engines does not guarantee the long-term operation of the MiG-29 aircraft, but aims to ensure that flight personnel is trained at an acceptable level by the end of 2023,” Minister Stoyanov said.

Polish ZBIAM media reports that the repairs of RD-33 engines are likely to be carried out by the Warsaw division of Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze Nr 2 SA, which specializes in this type of equipment.

In September, it was reported that Bulgaria was ordering a second batch of F-16 multi-role fighter jets. This regarded eight aircraft – four F-16C block 70s and four F-16D block 70s.

The agreement also includes relevant aircraft armaments and ground equipment, training and logistics support, along with sets of maintenance parts.

This purchase will allow the formation of a fully operational squadron of Western-made multi-role combat aircraft in the Bulgarian Air Force. They should replace Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets. Delivery of these warplanes is expected by 2027.

Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract to produce F-16 fighter jets for Bulgaria in early 2020. According to its terms, the company must produce eight F-16 Block 70/72 fighter jets and transfer them in 2023-2024.

At the same time, at the beginning of 2022, it was reported that Lockheed Martin did not manage to produce the first batch for Bulgaria on time.