Military of Bulgaria - Navy

Navy

The Navy has traditionally been the smallest component of the Bulgarian military. Established almost simultaneously with the Ground forces in 1879, initially it consisted of a small fleet of boats on the Danube river. Bulgaria has a coastline of about 354 kilometers – thus, naval warfare is not considered a priority.

After the downturn in 1990, the Navy was largely overlooked and received almost no funding. No projects for modernization were carried out until 2005, when a Wielingen class frigate (F912 Wandelaar) was acquired from Belgium. By 2009, Bulgaria acquired two more frigates of the same class. The first of them was renamed 41 Drazki and took part in several operations and exercises, most notably the UNIFIL Maritime Patrol along the coast of Lebanon in 2006, and Operation Active Endeavour. 41 Drazki is currently (as of April 2011) participating in the enforcement the naval blockade against Muammar Gaddafi's regime off the coast of Libya.

The equipment is typical for a small navy, consisting mostly of light multi-purpose vessels – 4 frigates, 3 corvettes, 5 minesweepers, 3 fast missile craft and 2 landing ships. One submarine – 84 Slava – remains in inventory, although it is not considered in active service as the submarine component was disbanded in 2010. 84 Slava is scheduled to be turned into a museum. Other equipment includes a coastal defence missile battalion armed with locally modified P-15 Termit missiles, a coastal artillery battery, a naval helicopter airbase and a marine special forces unit.

The Bulgarian Navy is centered in two main bases – in Varna and in Burgas.