Bulgarian MiG-29 Jet Disappears from Radars during Exercise

A Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet disappeared from radars during a training flight over the Black Sea on Wednesday.

The MiG-29 which was taking part in the Shabla 21 exercises disappeared at 00:45 on June 9 (21:45 Tuesday GMT), reports said citing the country’s defense ministry.

A search and rescue operation was launched immediately and is still ongoing. The operation involves units from the navy, the border police and the air force.

Shabla-21 exercises have now been terminated. It is a national tactical exercise with experimental and joint combat live fire performed by the air defense formations of the Bulgarian Army with international participation. The exercise will be conducted in the period 25 May – 16 June 2021 at Shabla Air Defense Firing Range. Up to 1,500 servicemen from the Land Forces, the Air Force, the Navy and the Joint Special Operations Command of Bulgaria as well as formations from the United States and Serbia were expected to participate in the exercise.

Yesterday, the Polish Armed Forces confirmed that one of its MiG-29 jets was involved in an accident in mid-May.

Bulgarian MoD Statement:

Today, June 9, 2021, while performing a training task over the sea area of ​​the Republic of Bulgaria, a MiG-29 aircraft of the Bulgarian Air Force lost radio communication and disappeared from the radars at 00:45.

The Minister of Defense Georgi Panayotov and the Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov are on their way to the area of ​​the incident.