Bulgaria plans to join F-16 training for Ukrainian pilots

Bulgaria’s Defense Committee approves assistance in training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.

Bulgaria’s assistance includes training with the use of Bulgarian airspace.

The country will also train up to four Ukrainian infantry or mechanized companies with a total of 160 soldiers.

The Committee approved the transfer of obsolete air defense systems, man-portable air defense systems, and surface-to-air missiles of different types to Ukraine.

Bulgaria claims that Ukraine may be able to return the defective missiles to service.

“Unlike Bulgaria, Ukraine has stated that it has the ability to adopt such defective ammunition and put it into service in the Ukrainian army,” Bulgaria said.

The decision was supported by 11 members of the parliamentary committee, one abstained, and four from the pro-Russian ‘’Revival’’ party and the Bulgarian Socialist Party voted against it.

The proposal is part of a draft decision to provide additional military assistance to Ukraine, which was presented on Thursday by the parties of the Bulgarian government coalition – GERB-SDS ‘’We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, and Movement for Rights and Freedoms’’.

It refers to Bulgaria’s determination of an excessive amount of weapons and equipment needed to man wartime formations and the preparation of a proposal to provide these weapons and equipment to Ukraine.

Negotiations are also to be held with the governments of NATO member states on the deployment of air defense and anti-ship missile systems to strengthen Bulgaria’s defense capabilities.

Previously, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umierov said that Bulgaria had agreed to help Ukrainian pilots with English courses.

As previously reported, in September of this year, the Bulgarian Parliament approved the transfer of S-300 missiles to Ukraine.