Bulgaria to receive MiG-29 engines from Poland

Poland is to decommission one of its MiG-29 fighters to transfer the two engines to Bulgaria as part of a wider agreement geared at maintaining the latter's fleet until the end of 2023. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

Bulgaria is to receive MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum' engines from Poland in a bid to maintain flight operations of the Warsaw Pact-era jets until the end of 2023.

Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said on 28 October that the Polish Air Force is to decommission one of its MiG-29s so as to transfer the aircraft's two Klimov RD-33 turbofan powerplants to the Bulgarian Air Force. Talks for the Polish repair of six further Bulgarian engines are in progress, he added.

“At the beginning of August, a request for the purchase or repair of six engines was sent to the Polish side. As a result of the meetings held, Poland undertook the repair of six engines, Minister Stoyanov said. He also announced that the Polish Ministry of [National] Defense has decided to decommission one MiG-29 aircraft and prepare its engines for sale to Bulgaria,” the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, adding that the repair of six engines is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

Stoyanov noted that the engine transfer and repairs are geared at maintaining MiG-29 operations until the end of 2023. At this time, the Bulgarian Air Force should have begun receiving an interim fighter type yet to be selected, ahead of the arrival of the first Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70s towards the end of the decade.