Page 66 - Сигурност и отбрана - брой 1 - 2025

Сигурност и отбрана, брой 1, 2025 г. Научно списание

https://doi.org/10.70265/MXMB2402

L-39 SKYFOX – SUPPORTIVE FIGHTER-TRAINING
MULTIFUNCTIONAL NEW GENERATION AIRCRAFT

Dimitar Nedialkov

Summary: The author supports the idea that the Bulgarian Air Force should
optimize the system of our military aviation by finding a strategic partner in the field of
the 5th generation of aviation technology, through which they can prospectively replace
the decommissioned old modifications of L-39ZA, Su-25 and partly MiG -29 with a new
multifunctional fighter-training aviation platform. We must rely on traditions and explore
European opportunities for industrial cooperation.

Keywords: aviation, human cognition, multi-functionality, modernization, close
support

INTRODUCTION
One of the main problems of the Bulgarian military aviation system is
the 35-year period of oblivion, during which no combat and combat training
aircraft entered service. The last models were delivered in 1990, when the
deals for the MiG-29 and L-39ZA were concluded. If the MiG is assigned
the role of the main combat fighter of the 4th generation, then the
Czechoslovak aircraft are assigned the function of the main training jet
aircraft and one for conducting aerial reconnaissance during the mobilization
and deployment of the Bulgarian army in war conditions.
Of course, the cadets and instructors from our training regiments also
used the 36 available L-39ZAs for close air support, given their decent
armament, consisting of a twin 23-mm cannon located in the nose of the
aircraft and a set of conventional hangar weapons, with a total weight of 1000
kg.

EXPOSITION
In operation, the L-39ZA aircraft proved their exceptional efficiency.
Hundreds of Bulgarian pilots passed through their cockpits, who then filled
the ranks of the Bulgarian Air Force. The military repair plant in the city of
Dobrich, which we so frivolously closed, coped perfectly with the regulatory
and repair activities. This helped the system to maintain over 90% of the
available aircraft in airworthiness. During the entire period from 1986, when

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