Spanish fighters began reconnaissance flights in the airspace of Bulgaria over three large cities - Sofia, Plovdiv and Burgas.
Euractiv writes about it.
The Spanish military deployed six Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft in Bulgaria to carry out NATO's enhanced airspace defense mission together with the Bulgarian Air Force.
The joint mission of the Bulgarian and Spanish military to protect the airspace of Bulgaria will last until December 2.
Six Spanish fighter jets will support 130 Spanish military personnel in Bulgaria.
"With this short-term deployment, Spain proves its capabilities and readiness to contribute to NATO's collective defense in the Black Sea region," said the commander of the Spanish Joint Operational Command, Lieutenant General Francisco Braco Carbo.
The Spanish Ministry of Defense explained that in this way Spain is participating in the "allied response and deterrence" efforts, in particular, "providing an air shield by increasing the regular missions of the Air Force".
Spain has already sent 12 warplanes to Bulgaria, Lithuania and Estonia since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. In February, Spain sent four Eurofighter fighters, which for two months protected Bulgaria's airspace.
This is Spain's second mission to protect Bulgarian skies since the beginning of the war.
Bulgaria relies only on old Soviet MIG 29 fighter jets to protect its airspace, but these are to be decommissioned as they cannot be maintained in Russia.