site.btaPrime Minister Says Delivered F-16 Fighter Jet Is Air and Battle-Worthy

The F-16 Block 70 fighter jet delivered to Bulgaria from the US is air- an battle-worthy, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said during Friday's Question Time in Parliament. He was commenting on the situation with the newly delivered aircraft, which has been at the centre of a political controversy since May 2 over a technical issue.

Zhelyazkov noted that as part of the warranty maintenance of the aircraft, a "warranty block" has been replaced. "I am not an expert. I am informed about the chronology. If it were not for the political skirmish on this topic, it would all be in the realm of warranty maintenance of an asset. I will not go into the ideological dimensions, because it is clear to everyone in this hall what is meant when one moves from a Soviet platform to a NATO-compatible platform," Zhelyazkov argued. 

"During the flight from the US to Spain, and from Spain to Bulgaria, there was an indication of a malfunction in a block. A signal was given, an indicator was lit, which notified of some malfunction in terms of charging some part of the engines, batteries or something similar. I do not know what batteries there are in which circuits, but that was the indicator. Then that indication disappeared, the aircraft landed. It was taken to the hangar, and when tests were made, there was an indication again. Then the indication became persistent. This is an element of a whole chain that is monitored for serviceability and reported," he explained the chronology of events. 

"We are talking about a block that is entirely under warranty. This block has been ordered, delivered and probably already installed. It is part of the warranty maintenance of this aircraft," the Prime Minister said. He stressed that in view of its warranty maintenance, all such items need to be replaced in a timely manner.