May 19 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria took delivery from Poland of a second engine for its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter aircraft, the defence ministry in Sofia said in a social media post on Friday.
The first of the two contracted engines was delivered last month, according to an earlier statement by the ministry.
Bulgaria has been working to guarantee the airworthiness of its ageing fleet of MiG-29s to fulfil its air policing duties as a member of NATO until they are replaced by F-16 Lockheed Martin fighter aircraft. Bulgaria has ordered two batches of eight F-16 each from the U.S., to be respectively delivered in 2025 at the earliest, and 2029.
"The American side has no way of providing us with replacement F-16 planes and strongly recommends that we continue operating the MiG-29 aircraft as long as possible. We are working in this direction," caretaker defence minister Dimitar Stoyanov said earlier this week, citing a letter received by the ministry from the U.S. Air Force.