INFORMATION ON VARIOUS BULGARIAN AIRFIELDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A003300300005-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 30, 2002
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: January 11, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPOT"
SECRET)
COUNTRY Bulgaria
SUBJECT information on Various
Bulgarian Airfields
25X1 Gabrovnitsa
This Document contatins. Information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Seotions'793 and 794, of the U.B. Code, as
amended. Its trdn issign or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
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REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO.
REFERENCES
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11 January 1954
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25X1-? Between Mikhaylovgrad and Lom, in the vicinity of Gabrovnitsa (N 43-32, E 23-15)a.
114 kilometers north-northeast of Mikhaylovgrad, jet aircraft were observed taking
off from an airfield located slightly to the right. The runway appeared to be
headed in an east-west direction.
25X1 Lyubenets
2. The chief airfield in the vicinity of Stara Zagora is allegedly located at Iyubenets
(N 42-222 E 25-57), 27 kilometers east-southeast of Stara Zagora. This airfield
is reportedly being used by large aircraft; it was used during World War II by the
Germans as an auxiliary field and has allegedly been renovated.)
25X1
The following legend refers to a sketch of the Dolna Mitropoliya airfield included
as Appendix A on page 7 .
1. Headquarters, a 2-story building 40 x 20 meters in size
2. '1 building for the officer of the day, 15 x 10 meters in size
3. Guard posts, 5 x 3 meters in size
4? Barracks, a 2-story building 40 x 10 meters in size, for housing about 120 men
5. Barracks for aviators
6. Parachutists' room, 50 x 20 meters in size
7. parachute depot
8. Hangars, 80-100 x 15 meters in size
Dolna Mitropoliya
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9. Weapons depot, 25 x 10 meters in size
10. Depot
11. Infirmary, 10 x 6 meters in size
12. Fuel (?) depot
25X1 Plovdiv
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4. Construction work at Plovdiv airfield has been completed. In addition to the
twelve hangars located above ground, underground shelters for airplanes and
underground fuel and, munitions depots have been constructed. On 16 May 1953,
twenty-seven MIG 15 aircraft and six old-type heavy bombers were observed at
this field.
2 5X1 Dobrich (now Tolbukhin)
5. An airfield has been recently constructed in the immediate vicinity of Polkov-
nik Sveshtarovo (formerly Bash Bunar) (N 43-33, E 27-56),eight kilometers east-
25X1 southeast of Dobrich. This airfield is occupied by Bulgarian Army air forces.2
25X1 Polikr'aishte
6. the airfield of Polikraishte was occupied by only 25 airmen.who
were guarding the field eight training aircraft and 160
25X 1 Air Force men arrived at Po ikraish e from Yambol; two of these aircraft sub-
sequently returned to Yambol. the airfield was inspected by
25X1 an unidentified Soviet colonel.
25X1 Novoseltsi
7. The Novoseltsi airfield is located 500 meters northwest of Novoseltsi (N 43-59)
E 22-50), to the south of the Gradets (N 442102, E 22-45)-Vidin Road. This field
is 1,500 x 1,000 meters in size and is bordered on three sides by fields; the
southeastern side bordering on a branch of the Topolovitsa River. The ground
is hard and grassy, and there are no drainage facilities. Prevailing wind is
from the northwest. There are no permanent constructions or installations at
this field and the troops here are quartered in private homes or in tents. There
are no munitions or fuel depots and no radio, radar, or goniometer facilities
25X1 at Novoseltsi airfield.
this field was not occupied, but it was reported that the
headquarters and one company of a fighter group of Sofia:were scheduled to move
to Novoseltsi airfield toward the end of April 1953'.
9. The following legend refers to a sketch of Novoseltsi airfield included as
Appendix B on page 8.
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10. The Elirl Pelin airfield was previously known as Novoseltsi airfield and-is
located between'Elin Pelin and Musachevo (N 42-41, E 23-34). It includes
a standard-type hangar and various unidentified buildings.
25X1 Novo Selo
11. The Novo Selo airfield is located 25 kilometers northwest of Vidin in the
vicinit of the Rumano-Bulgarian border and in the Novo Selo (N 44-10,
E 22-47)-Bregovo (N 44-09, E 22-39)-Gumsovo (N 44-06, E 22-46) triangle,
on the south side of the Novo Selo-Vidin Road.
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12. The Novo Selo airfield is 1,800 x 8001,000 meters in size and is surrounded
by flat country. The ground consists of hard sand, is grassy, and has no
drainage facilities. Prevailing wind is from the northwest. Buildings con-
sist of two permanent structures, several temporary installations, wooden huts,
and tents. The permanent structures are 20 x 10 meters in sizeand are used
as offices. The troops are quartered in tents and there are no hangars.
13. There is no munitions depot, nor are there radio, radar, or goniometer facilities
at this field. A temporary fuel depot, located above ground is situated north-
east of the airfield, between the Vidin-Novo Selo Road and the Danube.
14. The following men are based at Novo Selo airfield,.
a. One company of a fighter group from Sofia,
b. One fiir Force technical company, and
c. One drivers' school, the students of which come from various units in the
25X1 Sofia area.
15. These troops arrived at the airfield I uin preparation for the
summer maneuvers. The fighter and the technical companies are composed of a
25X1 total of approximately 100 men. The drivers' school includes 120 men who were
drivers in civilian life, but who have to obtain their military driving permits.
The drivers were drafted into the Air Force in Sofia, drove to Novo Selo
25X1 I land left the airfield during April. The remainder of the fighter
group e in Sofia and only one company came to Novo Selo. This group is
equipped with eight YAK-9 aircraft.
16. There is no concrete runway at Novo Selo airfield, nor are any plans being
made to construct one. There. are no lighting facilities nor beacons. No
construction work is in progress.
17. The fighter company at Novo Selo airfield is equipped with the following
vehicles:
a. Three VLs;
b. Two tank trucks;
c. Three 1.5-ton trucks; and
d. Five 3-ton trucks.
18. The drivers' school is equipped with the following vehicles:
a. Three Pobeda VLs;
b. Five ZIS 1.5-ton trucks;
c. Five 3-ton trucks of Soviet construction;
d. Two jeeps; and
e. Four motor'cycles of Soviet construction.
19. There is no railway line connection with this airfield.
20. A sketch of Novo Selo airfield is included as Appendix C on page 9.
25X1 Graf Ignatovo
21. The Graf Ignatovo airfield is located approximately 20 kilometers east of
Pleven, along the Pleven-Obnova (N 43-26, E 25-00)-Levski (N L3-21, E 25-09)
highway, approximately 500 meters south of -the Pleven-Levski railway line.
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22. This is a former operational airfield which has been rebuilt, and is 2,500
x 1,200 meters in size. The ground consists of a drained field, and pre-
vailing wind is from the southeast.
23. The following buildings are located at Graf Ignatovo airfield:
a. Two reinforced concrete hangars, 85 x 35 meters in size;
b. One reinforced concrete hangar, 50 x 30 meters in size;
c. One headquarters building;
d. Three 1-story buildings used as barracks.
24. there was no munitions depot at this field; however, one
was scheduled to be constructed. An underground fuel depot was constructed
25X1 700 meters from the northeast corner of the field, in the vicinity of the
25X1 there were no radio, radar, or goniometer installations at this
25X1 field.
25. A sketch of the Graf Ignatovo airfield is included as Appendix D on page 10.
25X1 Telish
26a The Telish airfield is allegedly a training base for day and night flights.
There is no concrete runway. Night lighting facilities consist of fixed
lamps on bases 40 centimeters high.
27. The following legend refers to a sketch of Telish airfield included as
Appendix E on page 11.
1. Telish railway station
2. Guard post and main entrance
3. Guard post and airport entrance
4. Transformer
5. Armory
6. Accumulator station
7. Garage
8. Barracks, for one or two companies
9. Main hall and movie theatre
10. Study hall
11. Commandant's offices
12. Quartermaster
13. Hangars
14. School headquarters
15. Television (sic) apparatus
16. Base headquarters
17. Airmen's club and mess hall
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18. Barracks, one or two companies
19. Bath house and laundry
20. Stables
21. Oven, bakery
22. Food and clothing warehouse
23. Pig pen
2L. Munitions depot
25. Fuel depot
26. Fuel depot guard
27. ?
25X1 Khaskovo
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27. A new airdrome has been completed in the vicinity of Khaskovo and is located
three kilometers northeast of the crossroads of the Khaskovo-Dimitrovgrad and
the Khaskovo-Plovdiv highways, 500 meters to the east of the Dimitrovgrad
highway. The runway is concrete and runs in a northwest-southeast direction.
Several paved taxi strips lead to the runway. The construction of this air-
field was completed on 25 January 1953. No construction hasibeen.-observed
and up to now no airplanes have been seen here. The area surrounding this
airfield is restricted. The field was constructed for the Sov eta following
their orders and is not to be used by the Bulgarian Air Force.
28. A sketch of the Khaskovo Airfield is included as Appendix F on page 12.
25X1 Lovech
29. The Lovech airfield is located at the northwest corner formed by the Pleven-
Lovech Road and the Levski-Troyan railway line. The railway line runs along
the southeastern side of the field. The surrounding area is partially wooded
and, because of this, the airfield is difficult to observe. Its approximate
dimensions are 700 x 800 meters. The hangar is large with a roof composed of
triangular sections; it is-flanked by two smaller buildings. Tress surround
the other buildings which appear to be six or eight in number. These buildings
are low and long, are occupied by troops, and may be used as barracks, offices,
25X1 workshops, etc. our or five fighter aircraft, allegedly LA-5s,
in poor condition , were pare at the edge of a small woods. South of the air-
field, between the railway line, the road, and the city of Lovech, there is a
group of buildings which appear to be occupied by a civilian school:
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30.
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Varna-Topolite
The Varna-Topolite airfield includes a total of five buildings, all located
at the northwest corner of the field; there are no hanars. Thim eld is
used by the Bulgarian Air Forces. two PS-8is
and four small military bi-planes were Observed here.
1. The existence of another airfield for night bombers, located in the
vicinity of Stara Zagora, is very possible. Lyubenets is situated along
the Plovdiv-Burgas line, half-way between these two cities and one kilo-
meter from the Nova'Zagora-Maritsa railway line.
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2. This is allegedly, therefore, the third airfield in the vicinity of
Dobrich.
3. This airfield is not to be confused with the Uzundzhovo field.
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APPENDIX A
The Do na Mitro of -a irf eld
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fir` i N
f
t
-tl
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APPENDIX B
The Novoseltsi Airfield
GRADETS
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APPENDIX C
The Novo Selo Airfield
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APPENDIX D
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The Ignatovo''`Airfield
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APPENDIX E
The)Telish Airfield
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APPENDIX F
The Khaskovo Airfield
%'. Barracks
Heavy Artillery
Barracks
-;'.. Underground fuel
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to Dimitrovgrad
Dimitrovgrad
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Airport