US Air Force F-15 Deploy to Bulgaria for Bilateral Training Event

A F-15 from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England flies into Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria to participate in Thracian Eagle 2014 bilateral training event, August 18. Photo by US Air Force.

A dozen US Air Force F-15s and some 180 personnel have been deployed at Bulgaria’s Graf Ignatievo Air Base to take part in a bilateral exercise with the Bulgarian Air Force.

The two-week training exercise codenamed Thracian Eagle 2014 comes at a time when US’ Eastern European partners and allies are concerned about rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The purpose of the exercise is to conduct training and focus on maintain joint readiness while building interoperability, a Pentagon spokesman has said.

Bulgarian Air Force fighters MiG 29 and MiG 21 as well as Su-25 ground attack aircraft will take part in the exercise together with 12 F-15C Eagle from the 493rd Fighter Squadron based at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England.

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