Bulgarian Navy

The Bulgarian Navy (Военноморски сили на Република България, Voennomorski sili na Republika Balgariya) is the navy of Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. It has been largely overlooked in the reforms that Bulgaria had to go through in order to comply with NATO standards, mostly because of the great expense involved and the fact that naval assaults are not considered to be a great concern for the country's security. That is why three of the four Romeo class submarines (excluding Slava) are now docked and have been out of operation for some time. The last one was decommissioned in November 2011. Only the more modern frigates, corvettes and missile crafts are on active duty.

In order to meet at least some of the NATO requirements, in 2005 the Bulgarian government bought from Belgium a Wielingen-class frigate, the BNS Wandelaar (F-912) (built in 1977), and renamed it to the BG Drazki. In 2005, Bulgarian ship Smeli for first time took part as full NATO member in NATO OAE (Operation Active Endaevour). In 2006, following a decision of the Bulgarian Parliament, Drazki took part in the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), patrolling the territorial waters of Lebanon under German command. This was the first time ever the Bulgarian Navy took part in an international peacekeeping operation. The Bulgarian government purchased two Wielingen-class frigates and one Tripartite minehunter in 2007.

The Bulgarian Navy is centred in two main bases. One is near the city of Varna. The other is Atiya Naval Base, near the city of Burgas.

Structure



 * Naval Forces Command, Varna
 * Naval Forces Staff
 * Naval Operations Center
 * Coastal Fundamental System for CIS Support
 * Coastal Information Detachment
 * Independent Electronic Surveillance Detachment
 * Command, Control and Communications Units
 * Naval Base Command
 * Naval Base Staff
 * Naval Base Location Varna
 * Naval Base Location Atiya
 * Repair and Maintenance Center
 * Armament and Equipment Storage
 * Ship Divisions
 * 1st Patrol Ships Division
 * 3rd Mine Counter-Measure Division
 * 4th Patrol Ships Division
 * 6th Mine Counter-Measure Division
 * 18th Support Ships Division
 * 96th Support Ships Division
 * 2nd Coastal Anti-Ship Missile and Artillery Battalion
 * Independent Naval Helicopter Air Base "Chayka"
 * 63rd Naval Special Forces Reconnaissance Detachment "Black Sea Sharks"
 * Hydrographical Service of the Naval Forces
 * Equipment Storage Base of the Naval Forces
 * Military Police Company of the Naval Forces Command

"Division" is the equivalent of land forces battalion or air force squadron as the Bulgarian navy follows the Russian naval tradition, according to which an "Operational Squadron" or "Оперативная эскадра" is a temporary formation, an equivalent of a land forces division and in modern times a "Squadron" of the Russian Navy is an equivalent of a land forces corps.

According to the reform plans envisioned in the White Paper on Defence 2010 the two naval bases would be merged into one with two base facilities in Varna and Burgas. The manpower of the Navy would account to about 3 400 seamen. The AS.565MB naval helicopters ordered are reduced from 6 to 3 units. Between 2011 and 2020 the naval "Longterm Investment plan" should come into action, providing the sea arm of the Bulgarian military with modernised ships and new equipment.

Naval Specialised Research and Analysis Division
The NSRAD (Военноморски специализиран отдел за проучвания и анализи) was a clandestine agency within the Navy, intended to conduct intelligence gathering and "unofficial" paramilitary operations. Due to the fact, that most of its operatives also had a significant training in IT sciences, the division probably also served as Bulgarian Navy's equivalent of the United States Cyber Command. It was disbanded in January 2005 for reasons unknown, but probably related to recent acceptance of Bulgaria to NATO. All information about its organisation and personnel remains sketchy at best (see: Gamma unit, Omicron unit, Theta unit, Zeta unit). Virtually all operations, conducted by the division, were false flag operations with no records surviving, suggesting that the division operated outside established chain of command.

Omicron Unit
Omicron unit was the code name of the 2nd tactical unit/Operative section of the NSRAD.It was under command of lieutenant (promoted in 2004 to captain-lieutenant) Alexander Ryenski (Bulgarian: Александър Риенски). The name of the unit commander is most likely an alias.

Zeta Unit
Zeta unit was the code name of the 4th tactical unit/Operative section of Bulgarian Naval specialised research and analysis division. It was under command of lieutenant Daniel Stoyanov (Bulgarian: Даниел Стоянов). The name of the unit commander is most likely an alias.

Ships
The Bulgarian navy will modernise three of its Wielingen class frigates by 2014, the frigates will be equipped with landing pads, allowing helicopters to land and take off from the ships' decks.



Aircraft
3 Eurocopter AS565 Panther

4 Mil Mi-14 to be modernized