First Bulgarian Viper handed over

February 1, 2025

The Block 70/72 F-16 is the new F-16 baseline, with an AN/APG-83 AESA Scalable Agile Beam Radar, a modernized mission computer, a new Centre Pedestal Display, Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, and many other upgrades. The new AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar enhances situational awareness, and allows a pilot to engage multiple targets simultaneously, or to simultaneously use the radar in different modes. Crucially, AESA radars give a ‘weapons quality track’ for a target at significantly longer range. The F-16 Block 70/72 is equipped with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system, including a digital radar warning receiver, further enhancing situational awareness and survivability.
Lockheed has booked more than 200 confirmed orders for the new-build Block 70/72 F-16, which has been ordered by Bahrain, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Taiwan, Morocco, and Türkiye, while Taiwan, Singapore, Greece, Korea, Morocco and Türkiye all plan to upgrade existing F-16C/Ds to the same standard as the ‘F-16V’. Jordan, Colombia, Indonesia, Poland, and the Philippines have been identified as potential future operators of the Block 70 variant. With a backlog of around 130 aircraft, the Block 70/72 will keep Greenville busy for years to come, and the planned annual production rate of 48.
Bulgarian Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov flew to the USA on 29 January for a three-day visit. He was accompanied by a delegation that included Deputy Minister of Defense Adelina Nikolova, Deputy Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Krasimir Kanev, Air Force Chief Major General Dimitar Petrov, and Director of the Armaments Policy Directorate Colonel Vladislav Shekerov. The centrepiece of the visit was the ceremonial official handover of the first Block 70 F-16 for Bulgaria at Lockheed Martin’s Greenville facility in South Carolina on 31 January 2025. The handover was carried out in the presence of senior figures from Lockheed Martin, US lawmakers, and military and government representatives from Bulgaria and the United States including the Bulgarian Ambassador to the United States Georgi Panayotov and the Bulgarian Military Attaché Colonel Ivan Bogdanov.
Zapryanov also met Bulgarian Air Force personnel currently undergoing training in the United States.
Bulgaria’s path to the F-16 began with the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact, and the nation’s subsequent alignment with NATO, which it joined in 2004. The Soviet-supplied MiG-29 fleet became more difficult to support, and readiness declined. Bulgaria briefly flirted with the idea of an Israeli upgrade for the aircraft, before deciding on the procurement of a modern, Western fighter. This was felt to be the best way of bolstering Bulgaria’s air defence capabilities, while aligning its air force with NATO standards, thereby enhancing interoperability.
Bulgaria settled on the advanced F-16 Block 70/72 aircraft, and the procurement process began in earnest in June 2019 when the US State Department approved a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Bulgaria of eight F-16C/D Block 70/72 fighters. Originally, it was expected that the purchase would be evenly split between four single-seat F-16C and four two-seat F-16D variants, at an estimated cost of US $1.673 billion.
The Bulgarian F-16s will be equipped to carry AIM-120C-7/8 AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles) and GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev initially vetoed the F-16 deal in July 2019, saying that a broader consensus was needed. The Bulgarian parliament over-rode this veto a few days later, and the procurement progressed, with an initial US $512 million contract awarded to Lockheed Martin in April 2020.
At roughly the same time, the decision was taken to supply two decommissioned F-16 aircraft to the Bulgarian Air force, through the US Department of Defense’s Excess Defense Articles (EDA) programme. These were to be used as training aids and general familiarisation tools for Bulgarian Air Force personnel – subject to the approval of the United States Congress.
In September 2022, Bulgaria decided to purchase an additional eight F-16C/D Block 70/72 fighters, bringing the total to 16 aircraft.
The last Bulgarian MiG-29 left service in December 2022. Delivery of the Bulgarian F-16s was originally due to begin in 2023, but Lockheed Martin announced a two-year delay, which was attributed to COVID pandemic-related production interruptions.
The first Bulgarian F-16C Block 70 aircraft (311) finally made its maiden flight at Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Greenville, South Carolina at 0930 EDT on 22 October 2024, in the hands of Lockheed test pilot Charles ‘Seeker’ Hoag, who conducted multiple system tests to validate performance and supersonic capabilities during the flight.
The first F-16D aircraft (301) was officially handed over to the Bulgarian Air Force on 31 January 2025, and the first pair (one single-seat, one trainer) are expected to be delivered to Bulgaria in April, and the entire first batch (now expected to consist of six single-seaters and two two-seaters) is expected to be ‘in country’ by the end of 2025.
The contract for the F-16 purchase included the provision for the training of 32 pilots and a number of groundcrew to enable them to operate and maintain the F-16 Block 70. It has been reported that just ten pilots have been sent for training to date – some of whom “could not make it and came back,” according to the Minister. “We have already prepared a pilot and an instructor. I hope we will have enough pilots when the first eight aircraft come.”
There are also concerns surrounding the state of the infrastructure at Graf Ignatievo air base, due to be the home of the Bulgarian F-16s. “This is a big challenge,” the minister said.
It has been suggested that the Bulgarian Air Force will need at least two years after the delivery of the aircraft to attain Initial Operating Capability. Once the aircraft are fully operational, it will mark a deeper integration of Bulgaria’s air force into NATO’s air power infrastructure, and a vital step in the air force’s ongoing modernization.