site.btaNext Exercise of Mine Countermeasures Black Sea to Take Place Before End of 2026, Says Bulgarian Navy Commander

The next exercise of the Mine Countermeasures Black Sea Task Group (MCM BLACK SEA) is coming in a few weeks, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov said on Tuesday in Varna, where he was a guest at the opening of the new academic year at the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (NVNA).

Mihaylov specified that the host of the next exercise of MCM BLACK SEA will be Romania, adding that the group will hold the exercise in Constanta, during which forces of the Bulgarian Navy will also be participating. After that the MCM BLACK SEA will be deactivated in Turkiye.

The Bulgarian Navy will have to prepare for 2026 by the end of this year, Mihaylov stressed. "The main exercises this year have ended. We have several more exercises before the end of the year, smaller ones, which are also important for us, as we maintain continuous preparation," he noted. In response to a question about how the preparations for the integration of the new ships are going, he commented that the Navy is implementing the programme regarding multifunctional patrol ships. "Last week, another group returned from training abroad in various systems," the Rear Admiral said, pointing out that this regular process will continue.

"I hope that newer knowledge and more modern theories will enter the training of the cadets of the Naval Academy and not only them, but also the students, because the world is developing and we must be in the forefront, as the school has shown so far that it can be," Mihaylov said regarding the beginning of the academic year at the NVNA. He pointed out that the upcoming academic year is extremely important for the cadets, as the Navy will renew its technical equipment, as well as develop the way of thinking and of tactics. "It is really necessary to look at education differently, to think in perspective and to learn from what the wars around us have shown, namely the new methods that are applied, and to study them and introduce them here as well," Mihaylov concluded.