Bulgaria’s F-16 fiasco: prolonged delays, pilot shortages, and mounting concerns over air force inertia. Only one of four delivered jets has been formally accepted while Sofia struggles to train pilots and certify aircraft
Bulgaria’s protracted and inexplicably slow transition to its new F-16 Block 70 jets – marked by technical defects, prolonged checks, severe pilot shortages, and infrastructure delays – has raised significant concerns about operational readiness, command inertia, and NATO commitments.
Bulgaria has formally accepted only one of the four new F-16 Block 70 fighter jets it has received from the United States, according to Air Force Commander Major-General Nikolay Rusev. The first aircraft arrived earlier this year but was found to have technical defects now under repair. The second jet has passed acceptance, while the third and fourth are undergoing lengthy technical and flight checks – a process that includes at least one test flight per aircraft before formal transfer to the Bulgarian Air Force.
So far, only two Bulgarian pilots are fully certified to fly the country’s variant of the F-16, Rusev told public broadcaster BNT. Six have completed training in total, but four require conversion flights in Bulgaria because their previous experience in the United States was on older F-16 models. The Air Force plans to deploy the new jets for air policing duties only after all deliveries are completed under the 2019 contract and the necessary training is finalised.
Until then, Bulgaria continues to rely on its ageing MiG-29 fleet for airspace patrols. “It’s unrealistic to expect the F-16s to enter combat duty immediately after their arrival,” Rusev said. “We cannot simply stop using the MiG-29s and ask our European allies to guard our airspace because someone has decided these planes are outdated.” He confirmed that Bulgaria’s airspace remains secure and that there have been no violations over the past year, only temporary losses of radio contact with civilian aircraft.
Observers note that Bulgaria’s slow progress reflects a wider regional pattern of logistical and training bottlenecks following Lockheed Martin’s relocation of its F-16 production line, which caused delays not only for Sofia. However, Slovakia, for example, which ordered 14 F-16 Block 70 jets in 2018 – has already received four aircraft and is moving more swiftly through the operational phase, with pilot training and maintenance infrastructure well underway. All Slovak jets are expected to be delivered by the end of 2025.
By contrast, Bulgaria’s introduction of the new aircraft has been hampered by infrastructure delays, limited pilot availability, and what some observers doubt to be inertia within the Air Force command. The first Bulgarian trainees were sent to the United States in 2021, yet only two pilots are fully mission-ready in 2025. Critics question why aircraft capable of crossing the Atlantic arrive in Sofia only to be grounded for months over minor defects.
“Something’s rotten in the Air Force,” one commentator remarked, comparing Bulgaria’s protracted rollout to Ukraine’s rapid adaptation of Western jets for actual combat missions.
Despite the criticism, Rusev insists that the F-16 fleet will join air policing duties “once all conditions are met.” Additional four aircraft are expected by the end of this year, completing the first batch of eight ordered under the initial contract, with another eight due in 2026. Until then, Bulgaria remains dependent on Soviet-era fighters that have outlived their service life and can no longer be maintained, as the only places where such maintainance can be made are in Russia and Belarus.
For Sofia, the drawn-out transition exposes a deeper structural problem – the gap between procurement and operational readiness. While the F-16s are intended to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, Bulgaria’s capacity to integrate them effectively will depend on its ability to train pilots, modernise air bases, and streamline command decisions that, so far, have grounded more planes than they have launched.