Bulgaria Turns to Poland for MiG Repairs

Six aircraft tell the story. Of Bulgaria's fifteen MiG-29 fighters, only six were recently airworthy (BNR News). That is why Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev used the NATO summit in Ankara to sit down with representatives of WZL-2, Poland's state-owned military aviation repair plant in Bydgoszcz (Fakti, Defence24). Sofia needs to keep the Soviet-era jets flying until its ordered F-16 Block 70s arrive and become usable. That may not happen before 2030.

The Bydgoszcz Lifeline

WZL-2 has serviced Bulgarian MiG-29 engines in recent years, building up its own supply of parts after Russian maintenance channels became politically impossible (24 Chasa). An engine-overhaul tender worth more than €26 million shows the price of squeezing a few more years out of ageing aircraft (BNR News).

Poland gains too. The arrangement gives Warsaw a practical reason to remain indispensable inside NATO for countries still flying Soviet-era kit. Officials have talked up WZL-2 as a regional maintenance hub for legacy fighters, though that ambition still rests more on political intent than on signed contracts (Fakti).

Fighter Purchases Don't Close Gaps Overnight

Romania shows the problem. Bucharest received its final F-16 from a Portuguese batch in 2020 (Lockheed Martin). In 2024, the US notified Congress of a possible sale of 32 F-35A aircraft (DSCA). But an air force is not made operational by delivery alone. Pilots have to be trained, spare parts have to arrive, weapons have to be integrated, and the aircraft has to fit into NATO's command network. The purchase is the beginning of the process, not the end.

Slovakia is the sharper warning. After donating its MiG-29s to Ukraine, Bratislava relied on allied air-policing cover, meaning other NATO members took turns patrolling Slovak skies while replacements were awaited. In July 2026, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini was still presenting the readiness of two F-16s for Baltic air policing as a future commitment rather than a current capability (Aktuality). NATO covered the gap. But a covered gap still carries a domestic political cost and leaves a country dependent on whoever can turn up.

A Spare-Parts Problem in Sofia, a Rotation Problem in Rome

When a NATO member cannot police its own skies, the alliance fills the hole. Italy has sent Eurofighters and, in 2024, F-35As to Romania under NATO's enhanced air-policing mission (NATO Air Command, Aeronautica Militare). Each rotation uses up aircraft hours, pilot availability and maintenance capacity. A spare-parts problem in Sofia becomes a planning problem in Rome, even if no Italian minister would put it quite that way.

NATO treats air policing as a permanent peacetime duty (NATO). Bulgaria sits in the Black Sea theatre alongside Romania, Turkey and Ukraine, where Russian pressure has made air surveillance more urgent (DefenseRomania).

The chain of responsibility is the revealing part. The Bulgarian government decides whether to contract WZL-2. The Polish state owns the repair plant. NATO has no formal role in the maintenance deal, but it absorbs the consequences if the deal fails through extra rotations by countries such as Italy. Europe talks about defence integration in long timelines; readiness gaps are dealt with by whoever has the parts today. Bulgarian reporting has not shown a signed long-term agreement between Sofia and Bydgoszcz (24 Chasa). Until Bulgaria's F-16s are combat-ready, the question of who covers the Black Sea's thin spots belongs less to summit communiqués than to NATO force planners.