Vrazhdebna Air Base ( bg, Авиобаза Враждебна, Aviobaza Vraždebna) or 16th Transport Air Base is a military air base, located on the site of
Sofia Airport
Sofia Airport ( bg, Летище София, translit=Letishte Sofiya) is the main international airport of Bulgaria, located east of the centre of the capital Sofia. In 2019 the airport surpassed 7 million passengers for the first time. The ai ...
. The air base functions as a hub for the 16th Transport Squadron of the BAF.
History
"Vrazhdebna" is the original name for Sofia Airport, used since its establishment in 1937. The name is derived from the nearby village of Vrazhdebna (now a suburb of Sofia) and is literally translated as ''hostile''.
Although various military transportation units, have been based at the airport since the late 1940s, it was not until 1994 when a separate military unit (16th Transport Air Base) was established. Both Sofia Airport and 16th TAB carry the official name "Vrazhdebna".
Units
Until 1950 it was the hub for the 14th Air Transport Regiment, which included mostly German aircraft (
Junkers Ju 52
The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' ("Aunt Ju") and ''Iron Annie'') is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers.
Development of the Ju 52 commenced during 1930, headed by German Aeros ...
,
Junkers A 35
Junkers A 35 was a two-seater cantilever monoplane, used for postal, training and military purposes. The aircraft was designed in the 1920s by Junkers in Germany and manufactured at Dessau and by AB Flygindustri in Limhamn, Sweden and conversion ...
). After 1950 it was renamed to 16th Transport Squadron and was equipped with
Lisunov Li-2
The Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: Cab), originally designated PS-84, was a license-built Soviet-version of the Douglas DC-3. It was produced by Factory #84 in Khimki, Moscow-Khimki and, after evacuation in 1941, at Tashkent Aviation Pro ...
transport aircraft.
On some occasions Vrazhdebna Air Base also houses civilian
Aviation Detachment 28 aircraft, which carry senior members of the Bulgarian government.
See also
*
Dobroslavtsi Air Base
Dobroslavtsi Air Base or 1st Fighter Air Base Dobroslavtsi ( bg, 1ва Изтребителна авиобаза Доброславци) is an air force facility near Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It is located to the west of the city and has for ...
*
Cheshnegirovo Air Base
Cheshnegirovo Air Base/Sadovo (ICAO code: LBPS) used to house the 25th Fighter-Bomber Air Regiment (flying MiG-23BN/UBs) of the 10th Composite Aviation Corps. Located in central Bulgaria, north east of Plovdiv. According to the major restructuring ...
*
Gabrovnitsa Air Base
Gabrovnitsa Air Base ( bg, авиобаза Габровница) or 2nd Fighter Air Base is a former Bulgarian Air Force air base. It was built outside Gabrovnitsa near Montana in north western Bulgaria. The base was home to the 11th FAR, then t ...
*
Uzundzhovo Air Base
Uzundzhovo ( bg, Узунджово) is a village in southeastern Bulgaria, part of Haskovo municipality, Haskovo Province. As of 2008, it has a population of 1,727 and the mayor is Vancho Vanchev. The village lies in the agricultural Upper Thracia ...
*
Graf Ignatievo Air Base
Graf Ignatievo Air Base is located in the village of Graf Ignatievo, about north of Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second largest city. It is the sole remaining fighter base of that state and houses two squadrons of jet aircraft.
Early years
Graf Igna ...
*
Bezmer Air Base
Bezmer Air Base is an air base for the Bulgarian Air Force. The base is situated in the eastern part of the Upper Thracian Lowland, in Yambol Oblast (Region), 10 km west of the city of Yambol and 30 km southeast of the city of Sliven, ...
*
Dobrich Air Base
26th Reconnaissance Air Base Dobrich ( bg, 26та Разузнавателна авиобаза Добрич) is a former Bulgarian military installation near the City of Dobrich in the northeastern part of the country. It was of significant import ...
*
Ravnets Air Base
Ravnets Air Base ( bg, Авиобаза Равнец) , also known as 5th Fighter Air Base, is a former Bulgarian Air Force base near Ravnets, Bulgaria, located on the Black Sea coast, 20 km west of Bourgas. Built in 1950, the base was home ...
*
Balchik Air Base
Balchik Airfield ( bg, Летище Балчик) , is a general aviation airfield and reduced former military airbase in the town of Balchik, northeast Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast. In August 2011 the Bulgarian government transformed Balchik ...
*
List of Bulgarian Air Force bases
*
The Bulgarian Cosmonauts
The Bulgarian cosmonaut program refers to human spaceflight efforts by the People's Republic of Bulgaria. The idea of a Bulgarian manned space mission predated the launch of ''Sputnik 1'', the first artificial satellite. An informal proposal for th ...
*
List of joint US-Bulgarian military bases
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
{{mil-aviation-stub
Air force installations of Bulgaria