Spain's Eurofighters Land In Bulgaria To Carry Out Joint Air Policing Tasks - NATO AIRCOM

Spain's Eurofighters Land in Bulgaria to Carry Out Joint Air Policing Tasks - NATO AIRCOM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th November, 2022) Spanish Eurofighters have arrived in Bulgaria under NATO enhanced Air Policing to carry out joint air policing tasks along the alliance's eastern flank, NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) said on Friday.

"Spanish Eurofighters have landed in Bulgaria deployed under NATO enhanced Air Policing. The Spanish Air Force flies alongside their Bulgarian colleagues safeguarding the Airspace along the eastern flank," AIRCOM said on the website.

Bulgarian and Spanish fighter jets will be carrying joint air policing tasks from November 14 to December 2, 2022, AIRCOM said, adding that the Spanish Air Force has already deployed some 150 personnel and six Eurofighter F-2000 Typhoon aircraft.

"The Bulgarian Air Force will continue to provide its national contribution to the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System.

The combined employment of Bulgarian and Spanish Air Force equipment and personnel in NATO's Air Policing mission proves the capability of Bulgaria's combat aviation to act in an integrated manner with the Allies' forces; collectively, to patrol and protect the airspace of the member states of the Alliance," AIRCOM quoted Bulgarian Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Dimitar Petrov in the statement.

Bulgaria has been hosting Italian, Spanish, and US fighter jets at Graf Ignatievo Air Base since 2014. In February 2021, a detachment of six Eurofighters operated for two months from an air base near the Romanian city of Constanta, and four more Eurofighters were in Bulgarian from February 11 to March 31, 2022. This is the first time when Spain deployed its Eurofighters simultaneously in Romania and Bulgaria, the bordering countries of the Black Sea.