MOSCOU, 11 mars - RIA Novosti

L'exercice naval qui devait débuter mardi en mer Noir, réunissant la Bulgarie, la Roumanie et les Etats-Unis, a été différé d'un jour en raison des mauvaises conditions météorologiques, indique un communiqué mis en ligne sur le site du ministère bulgare de la Défense.

Conçu pour assurer la sécurité en mer Noire, cet exercice devait se tenir dans les eaux territoriales de la Roumanie. Il réunira une frégate bulgare, trois bâtiments de guerre roumains et le destroyer américain USS Truxtun équipé de missiles télécommandés. Ce dernier navire fait partie du groupe aéronaval d'attaque formé autour du porte-avions USS George H.W.

L'USS Truxtun, qui opère dans la zone de responsabilité de la 6e Flotte américaine, est un destroyer de classe Arleigh Burke. Il possède un système d'alerte et défense Aegis doté d'antimissiles et de missiles de croisière Tomahawk.

Le commandement de l'US Navy a auparavant souligné que les manœuvres en mer Noire avaient été programmées avant les événements en Crimée.

Cette péninsule peuplée principalement de Russes n'a pas reconnu la légitimité des nouvelles autorités installées à Kiev et a décidé d'organiser le 16 mars un référendum sur son futur statut politique.

Ce référendum a été qualifié d'illégitime par le nouveau gouvernement ukrainien, ainsi que par Londres et Washington.

Parallèlement à la présence navale bulgare, roumaine et américaine en mer Noire, l'armée de terre ukrainienne s'est massée à Kherson, aux abords de la Crimée.

18 September 2013 by Oscar Nkala - defenceWeb

The Bulgarian and United States governments have signed an agreement paving the way for joint training of up to 8 000 Libyan Army soldiers, on a rotational basis, at two Bulgarian military bases run by the two nations as international efforts to rebuild Libya’s post-war army intensify.

The agreement comes two weeks after Britain, Italy, Turkey and France agreed to provide professional military training for up to 7 000 more Libyan soldiers, bringing the number of soldiers earmarked for training abroad over the next eight years to 15 000.

Bulgarian Defence minister Angel Nayednov told local media in the capital Sofia batches of between 150 and 200 Libyan soldiers will be trained on a rotational basis in the US-Bulgarian bases at Novo Selo and Graf Ignatievo.

Naydenov said although his government approved the US request for the hosting and training of Libyan troops, the two countries still have to work out the finer details of the programme.

“This is a bilateral proposal which is also being discussed within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and could be expected to become part of NATO’s mission for post-war reconstruction of Libya,” said the minister.

In terms of the initial proposal, US and Bulgarian instructors will train between 150 and 200 Libyan soldiers on a rotational basis over the next five to eight years. This agreement follows those entered into by Italy, Turkey and Britain to train a further 7 000 Libyan Army soldiers in their respective countries.

A spokesman for Libyan Army Chief of Staff Colonel Ali Sheikhi told local media up to 360 soldiers will be sent in batches for training abroad as part of an international military assistance plan for rebuilding the Libyan armed forces.

He said the details of the programme were initially negotiated between Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and representatives of the three European governments in June. “It has been agreed with Italy, Turkey, France and Britain to train ground army units for three months for each group,” the spokesman said.

The programme is expected to start shortly with the first batch of 360 Libyan Army soldiers headed for training in Italy on September 27 where they will attend professional military courses for up to three months. The army said the soldiers would be trained in basic infantry skills and military leadership at a British Army location in Cambridgeshire.

Britain has agreed to train a total of 2 000 Libyan soldiers while France, Italy and Turkey will share the remaining 5 000 soldiers earmarked for EU training. Sheikhi said the Libyan government is currently engaged in discussions with the governments of Turkey, Italy and Britain to increase the number of trainees and the length of their courses.

Jun. 11, 2013 - By JAROSLAW ADAMOWSKI  - Defense News

WARSAW — Bulgarian Defense Minister Angel Naydenov has announced that the much-awaited acquisition of new jet fighters for the Air Force will likely not be launched this year, reported local news agency BTA.

In early May, Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said his country needs to purchase nine or 10 fighter jets to modernize its Air Force. Currently, the service has Soviet-built MiG-21 and MiG-29 jets in its fighter fleet.

Local media have reported that the government was aiming to buy nine used Block 15 F-16s from the Portuguese Air Force. The planned purchase was estimated to be worth about Bulgarian 700 million (US $464 million).

Other alternatives reportedly analyzed by the Bulgarian military include the acquisition of new Gripen fighter jets from Saab and the purchase of secondhand Eurofighter Typhoons from the Italian Air Force.

Meanwhile, the government of neighboring Romania also has expressed interest in acquiring a number of F-16s from Portugal to replace its fleet of MiG-21 jets.

Naydenov was appointed defense minister May 29 in a coalition Cabinet formed by Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski from the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

October 13, 2011 defpro.com

A conference on the specifications of the computer-assisted exercise of the countries from South Eastern Europe SEESIM 12 is being held in the Boyana Residence. The forum enjoys the participation of over 90 Bulgarian and foreign military and civilian experts in the field of defence. The exercise will take place in Bulgaria in 2012.

Computer-assisted exercises SEESIM (South Eastern Europe Simulation) are part of the initiative of the Ministers of Defence of South Eastern Europe (the SEDM Initiative). They have a two-year preparation cycle, and so far, a total of five such exercises have been held. Bulgaria hosted SEESIM in 2008.

Deputy Minister of Defence Avgustina Tzvetkova delivered a welcoming address for the participants in the conference today, October 11th. She emphasized that the SEESIM exercises under the SEDM initiative are of key importance to the unification of standards in the participating countries with regard to combating humanitarian crises and delivering aid to population in distress in disaster and emergency situations.

The main purpose of SEESIM exercises is to establish and test a system of interrelations and procedures between countries from the region, aimed at facilitating and speeding up the process of requesting and delivering aid in case of natural calamities and other humanitarian disasters.

The countries participating in these exercises are the SEDM Member States, the USA, Sweden, and the observer countries Georgia and Moldova. Some additional structures will take part in the exercise in 2012, among which NATO structures, ACT, JWC, JFTC and NC3A; governmental agencies; and non-governmental organizations. The experiment part of the exercise envisages testing the capacity of the latest advancements in information technology for enhancement of the effectiveness of the training and preparation of civil and military structures from the region with regard to participation in operations on non-military crisis relief, as well as Bulgaria’s proposal for the establishment of a network for training and exercises in South Eastern Europe.

The leader of the group on the preparation and conduct of the exercise in Bulgaria is Brig. Gen. Marin Nachev, Director for Operations and Training.