Mikoyan MiG-29

A MiG aircraft has crashed into the sea off Shabla during the Shabla 2021 military exercises, confirmed for BNR Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov, Commander of the Navy.

Two military pilots will join the second and third groups that are earmarked to go to the US to be trained to pilot F-16 fighter jets, said Deputy Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov at the sitting of the parliamentary defense committee.

Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish jets, all part of the NATO Air Policing, intercepted a Russian aircraft on May 19, which was flying close to the NATO air space, the Allied Command Operations (ACO) said.

According to a written statement by NATO Allied Air Command on May 21, the Alliance Quick Reacting Alert jets were dispatched to prevent Russia from entering the air space.

A MiG-29 fighter jet crashed during a training flight in Slovakia. The pilot was able to catapult and survive, according to the Department of Defense. The incident happened in the western part of the country.

The Defense Ministry said that the Serbian military gets its biggest donations from Russia, following Blic writings about USA being its major donor (based on data on donations between 2014 and 2018).

NATO member Bulgaria has reached a deal with the United States to buy eight new F-16 fighter jets for its air force at a price of $1.256 billion, it said on Wednesday, reports Yahoo News. 

The Balkan country, which is also a member of the European Union, is looking to replace its ageing Soviet-made MiG-29s and improve compliance with NATO standards.

"It's been 20 years since NATO's aggression on one sovereign country, which was not guided only by bombs from the air, it was done almost by any means - political, media," the president told RTS on Tuesday.

A delegation of the Serbian Ministry of Defense, led by Minister Aleksandar Vulin, attended on Monday a takeover ceremony in Baranovichy, Belarus.

The Bulgarian government has approved a plan to start talks with the United States on buying eight new F-16 fighter jets to replace its ageing Soviet-made MiG-29s and improve compliance with NATO standards, the defence minister said on Wednesday.

/Xiaoxia/

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would continue to strengthen security relations with Bulgaria, according to a statement issued by the State Department on Wednesday.