Bulgaria’s Minister of Defense Atanas Zapryanov is leaving on a three-day visit to the United States, the Ministry of Defense said. Minister Zapryanov will attend a formal handover of Bulgaria's first F-16 Block 70 aircraft at Lockheed Martin’s Greenville site in South Carolina on January 31. 

• Successful test flight of first F-16 Block 70 for Bulgaria

• President Rumen Radev co-pilots F-16, praises the aircraft's capabilities

The F-16 Block 70 aircraft will be handed over to Bulgaria in the presence of the leadership of Lockheed Martin, representatives of the US Congress, the US Department of Defense and the US Air Force, as well as diplomats and senior military officials from both Bulgaria and the United States.

The F-16 Block 70 aircraft will be the first out of 16 new fighter jets Bulgaria is to receive under the two contracts signed in 2019 and 2022. The first two fighter jets are expected to land in Bulgaria in April 2025.