October 20 (SeeNews) - Spain will send up to eight Eurofighter combat aircraft to Bulgaria under NATO's Air Policing programme, Bulgaria's defence ministry said on Thursday.
The fighter jets will be deployed between November 1 and December 23 under a decision to enhance the capabilities of the Bulgarian Air Force, the ministry said in a press release.
NATO has deployed Air Policing missions in Bulgaria since 2016, with the earlier participation of Italian and Spanish air forces, the ministry noted.
Enhanced air policing became part of NATO measures introduced in 2014 after Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine, and has also been taking place in Romania.
Spain deployed four Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon fighter jets to Bulgaria for the first time in mid-February, as tensions rose over the build-up of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine shortly before Russia's invasion started. Spain's earlier enhanced air policing mission completed at the end of March.
The ministry also said that it will move to ensure that funds will be set aside in the 2023 budget for the planned $1.296 billion (1.31 billion euro) purchase of a second batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets from the US.
Earlier this month, caretaker defence minister Dimitar Stoyanov said that Bulgaria is making efforts to secure engines from Poland to be used on its ageing Russian fleet of MiG-29s until the end of 2023. Bulgaria has already sought offers for the acquisition of other fighter aircraft from several countries, including Sweden and France.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)