This year’s Balkan Spartan air training exercise saw three C-27J operators train shoulder to shoulder in Bulgaria, as Alexander Mladenov reports.
EXERCISE Balkan Spartan 2017
The second annual Balkan Spartan multinational air training exercise took place between June 7 and 16 at Vrazhdebna/Sofia Airport North Side in Bulgaria, hosted by the 16. Transportna Aviacionna Grupa (16th Transport Aviation Group) of the Bulgarski Voennovazdushni Sili (BVVS, Bulgarian Air Force).
Three NATO C-27J Spartan operators took part: host nation Bulgaria, Italy and Lithuania. Romania was unable to allocate an aircraft for the event, while Slovakia – awaiting its first delivery – took part with observers.
The main aim, according to exercise director Colonel Rumen Kondev from the BVVS Command, is to improve co-operation and interoperability between participating nations.
The event also sought to exchange experience in maintenance, loading/offloading of cargoes and reconfiguration of the C-27J’s cargo hold for different missions.
All tactical flying took place in southern Bulgaria, mainly around Plovdiv, the host nation providing vast blocks of airspace free from civilian traffic at ultra-low and low level over mountainous an…
