site.btaBlue Bridge 2022 Flight Training Completed Successfully

A Bulgarian-Romania flight training, Blue Bridge 2022, took place on October, with airmen from Bulgaria, Romania and Canada, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday. During the first  phase of the training two MiG-29s intercepted a Romanian intruder C-130 and forced it to land at Plovdiv airfield. Bulgarian crews completed successfully the air policing mission to protects Bulgaria’s airspace within NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence.

Earlier two Romanian F-16s and two Canadian F-18s were raised from Fetesti airfield to intercept a rogue C-130 which had diverted towards the Bulgarian border. The Romanian jet handed over the rogue aircraft to the Bulgarian jet fighters on duty.

During the second phase of the training crews worked jointly to force land a C-130 at a designated airfield in Romania.

Bulgarian-Romanian training flights, codenamed Blue Bridge, have taken place since 2012 every year. The goal is to achieve a better coordination and interoperability in trans-border air policing operations