Bulgarian army

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The Bulgarian Army forms the army component of the Bulgarian armed forces . It consists of 30,000 soldiers .

history

During the First and Second World Wars , the Bulgarian Army was organized into five armies each . During the Cold War , the army was divided into three armies under the Warsaw Pact organization . At the end of the 80s, the 1st Army (with headquarters in Sofia and based in Western Bulgaria) generally consisted of one tank brigade , three motor gun divisions, etc. and the 3rd Army (with headquarters in Sliven and located in Eastern Bulgaria) consisted of two tank brigades, three motor gun divisions, etc. The 2nd Army (with headquarters in Plovdiv) consisted of two tank brigades, two motor gunner divisions, etc. It was placed in central Bulgaria and because its task was to reinforce either the 1st or 3rd Army, this large formation was less ready . In addition there were associations and units of the reserve of the high command (РГК - RGK). Shortly before the end of the Cold War, the Bulgarian government was forced by the economic situation to undertake a broad military reform with a certain reduction in the Bulgarian People's Army. In the first half of the 1990s the three armies were reduced and transformed into three army corps . At the end of the 1990s, military reform and downsizing continued. The planned army structure was as follows:

Army High Command (Sofia)

  • directly subordinated
  • Operative Command of the Army (formerly 2nd Army Corps, formerly 2nd Army) (Plovdiv)
    • 5th mech infantry brigade (formerly 5th tank brigade) (Kazanlak)
    • 61st mech infantry brigade (formerly 11th tank brigade) (Karlowo)
    • 2nd Infantry Brigade ( light ) (formerly 2nd Motor Rifle Division ) (Stara Zagora)
    • 2nd anti-tank (guided missile) battalion
    • 110th Logistics Brigade (Plovdiv)
    • 38th NBC Defense Regiment (Musachevo near Sofia)
  • Army Command "East" (formerly 3rd Army Corps, formerly 3rd Army) (Sliven)
  • Army Command "West" (formerly 1st Army Corps, formerly 1st Army) (Sofia)
    • 9th Tank Brigade (active) (Sofia - Gorna Banya)
    • 3rd mech infantry brigade (one battalion active, former 3rd motor rifle division ) (Blagoewgrad)
    • 8th mech infantry brigade (one battalion active, former training center) (Vratza)
    • 101st Mountain Infantry Brigade (20% active, formerly 16 independent mountain rifle brigade ) (Smoljan)
    • 5th Artillery Brigade (one battalion active) (Samokov)
    • 2nd anti-tank regiment
  • Commando Special Forces (reorganized)
    • 68th Special Forces Brigade (Plovdiv)
    • 1st Paratrooper Reconnaissance Regiment (the former 1st, 2nd and 3rd Paratrooper Reconnaissance Battalions combined) (Sliven)
    • 34th PSYOPS Battalion (Musachevo near Sofia)

This army structure has been out of date since 2005.

structure

In 2017 the Bulgarian Army is organized as follows:

  • Army Command (Командване на сухопътни войски), Sofia
    • 2. Mechanized Brigade "Tundscha" (2ра "Тунджанска" механизирана бригада), Stara Zagora
    • 61st Mechanized Brigade "Strjama" (61ва "Стрямска" механизирана бригада), Karlovo
    • 68th Special Forces Brigade (68ма Бригада специални сили), Plovdiv (withdrawn from the Army structure since January 31, 2017 and subordinated directly to the Defense Staff)
      • Headquarters Company (Щабна рота), Plovdiv
      • 1st Special Forces Battalion, Plovdiv
      • 2nd Special Forces Battalion, Plovdiv
      • 3rd Special Forces (Training) Battalion, Plovdiv
      • "Alfa" company (NRF readiness)
      • Special forces training center
      • Supply units
    • 101st Mountain Infantry Battalion, Smoljan (becomes a regiment and special forces unit of the Army)
    • 4th Artillery Regiment (4ти Артилерийски полк), Asenovgrad
    • 55th Engineer Regiment (55ти Инженерен полк), Belene
    • 110th Logistics Regiment (110ти Логистичен полк), Plovdiv
    • 1st Reconnaissance ( ISTAR ) Battalion, Svoboda
    • 3rd Independent Mechanized Infantry Battalion , Blagoevgrad
    • 10th Independent Mechanized Infantry Battalion , Vratsa
    • 38th NBC Defense Battalion , Musachevo
    • 34th CIMIC, PsyOps & Geoinformation Battalion, Sofia
    • Army Command Documentation Center, Sofia
    • Common basic training center, Pleven
    • Specialist training center (formerly 13th Panzer Brigade), Sliven
      • Driver and logistics specialist training center, Ruse
    • Army training area "Koren"

equipment

The Bulgarian Army has, inter alia, 432 T-72 - Tank , 886 T-55 -Kampfpanzer (to be discarded), 18 BRDM-1 / -2 - Spähpanzer (not ready), 100 BMP-1 - armored , 100 BMP -2 -Schützenpanzer, 1025 MT-LB - crew transport tanks , 1,144 MT-LB armored personnel carriers similar tanks and 618 BTR-60 -Mannschaftstransportpanzer.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Country information from the Austrian Ministry of Defense
  2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from August 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mod.bg
  3. ↑ http://www.marica.bg/68-бригада-специални-сили-вече-е-отделна-войскова-част-news695228.html