Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadzhov has said that all international airports in the country should be equipped with counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS). He added that acquisition of such systems should be included in operators’ investment plans.
Karadzhov, whose call was supported by Bulgarian airports and the civil aviation authority, said various options will be explored in a “reasonable timeframe”. The Deputy Prime Minister has said that the necessary legislative changes will be quickly prepared.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s speech followed the detection of a drone in the airspace around Sofia International Airport in early February. The presence of the drone caused landing delays.
An investigation into the incident continues. There have been previous reports of drones flying in the restricted airspace around Sofia’s airport before but authorities believe this is the first time that there was clear malicious intent. Border Police Director Anton Zlatanov has told Bulgarian media that the drone was “manipulated” and that it was a “deliberate action”. Other national media reports have said that the drone was of “military type” and “used for surveillance”. The airport’s executive director has been quoted as saying that the drone was fast and appeared to have technology capable of jamming radio frequencies for the air traffic control tower.
Following the Sofia International Airport incident, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) provided a drone monitoring system to the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport.
Zlatanov has said that in addition to airports, other sites such as border checkpoints, nuclear power facilities and critical infrastructure should have C-UAS technology. He told national media that the Border Police is awaiting funding after completing a procurement process that identified a supplier of a C-UAS system for the Bulgarian/Turkish border, where criminals use drones to see where border patrol officers are before moving people or drugs across the border.
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