Bulgarian Navy

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The Bulgarian Navy has been largely overlooked in the reforms that the Bulgarian armed forces had to go through in order to comply with NATO standards, mostly because of the great expense involved and the fact that naval assaults are not considered to be a great concern for the country's security. That is why three of the four combat submarines (excluding Slava) are now docked and have been out of operation for some time. Only the more modern frigates, corvettes and missile crafts are on active duty.

In order to meet at least some of the NATO requirements, in 2005 the Bulgarian government bought from Belgium a Wielingen-class frigate, the BNS Wandelaar (F-912) (built in 1977), and after being renamed to the BG Druzki the frigate serves as the flagship of the Bulgarian Navy. In 2006, following a decision of the Bulgarian Parliament, Druzki took part in the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), patrolling the territorial waters of Lebanon under German command. This was the first time ever the Bulgarian Navy took part in an international peacekeeping operation. The Bulgarian government plans to purchase a second Wielingen-class frigate and at least four french state of the art Gowind 200 corvettes, preferably built in Bulgaria by Armaris,a joint company of the French DCN and Thales Group. According to the Ministry of Defense, the Bulgarian Navy should have at least one new corvette by 2010.

The Bulgarian Navy is centered in two main bases. One is near the city of Varna. The other is Atiya, near the city of Bourgas.

[edit] Naval Aircraft inventory

The Navy's only aircraft comprise 12 Mil Mi-14PL helicopters for anti-submarine patrol, search and rescue, and other naval support tasks^[1].

[edit] References