Italian Eurofighter Typhoon Jets To Patrol Black Sea From Bulgarian Air Base

Italian Air Force's Eurofighter Typhoons will be deployed at Graf Ignatievo Airbase in Bulgaria to patrol the Black Sea region as part of NATO's Southern Air Policing mission.

For the Air Defence mission the Typhoon can load two 1,500 litre drop-tanks, four Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles (ASRAAMs), four AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs), and an internal Mauser BK-27 27 mm cannon, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

NATO air policing missions carried out by Eurofighter so far include Albania, the Baltic states; Iceland; and Slovenia. These sit under the oversight and guidance of Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) at Ramstein in Germany, with two Combined Air Operations Centres (CAOCs) at Uedem in Germany and Torrejon in Spain executing the missions. Uedem covers northern Europe above the Alps, Torrejon is responsible for southern Europe below the Alps (including the Black Sea and the Mediterranean).