Taken from GDW Soviet Combat Vehicle Handbook and Eastern European Sourcebook.

 

 

Bulgaria

 

 

Recent History: According to ESSB, Bulgaria started to shed off the Communist Yoke as early as 1988 as semi-free elections were allowed. Between 1989 and 1992 the Communist system began to be dismantled as the population demonstrated against the poor economic conditions and corrupt government. By 1995 a democratic government had been established and the country was trying to better itself. However the attempted assassination of the Turkish President and the death of the Bulgarian assassin in a Turkish jail sparked widespread anti-Turkish rioting. Tit for tat expulsions and the attacks on Turks and Bulgarians of Turkish decent led to memories of the old Ottoman Empire’s occupation of Bulgaria. By 1996 Bulgaria joined the new Warsaw Pact in the hope it would shield it from a Turkish attack through Thrace.  However the Soviets attacked Romania and the Bulgarians were obliged to join in the attack, which left its southern borders scantily protected against a Turkish attack. This attack came on Christmas Eve 1996, and the Turks quickly gained a lot of ground. The Soviets and Bulgaria shifted forces from Romania to stem the Turkish advance, but as they lacked enough forces in the area to quickly push the Turks out of Bulgaria, they started using nuclear weapons. With the Turkish Army stunned the Bulgarians quickly advanced on Istanbul which led to retaliatory NATO nuclear strikes which shattered the Bulgarian Army. By 2000 the remnants of the Bulgarian army had withdrawn inside Bulgaria to protect the country from further attack.   

 

 

Government: Government in Bulgaria is now firmly in the hands of the Bulgarian High Command, who have returned the country to a military dictatorship. Other than defending the national borders, particularly with Turkey and Macedonia, the military is not that interested in much beyond preserving its own hold on power.

 

Population: About 4 million Bulgarians have survived the war.  Most of the war casualties have been from warfare, famine, disease, and freezing winters rather than nuclear attack. EESB states that many Bulgarian left the cities when the power supply ran out living in small farming hamlets. However the cities still seem to have a sizeable population!! The capitol is still Sofia (450,000), with the ports of Varna (400,000) and Burgas (230,000) sustained by fishing and free trading. Other major cities include Khaskovo (290,000), Lovech (203,000), Razgrad (153,000), and Mikhaylovgrod (47,000).

 

 

Industry & Economy: Bulgarian industry ground to a halt when the power was cut off. With only small domestic energy sources, the Bulgarian economy has turned to agriculture and fishing, although the wine industry is still important. However some oil is still imported from Romania and manufactured goods are still imported via the Black Sea from the Ukraine and (Greece!!). So obviously there is still some power which may explain why the cities remain large, but it is firmly controlled by the military.  Most transport is now animal powered or by water (Black Sea and rivers). The rail system was utterly destroyed by the ravages of the war,  and there are no trains running anymore. However the small quantities of oil from Romania has allowed motor vehicles to be kept running, as Bulgaria inherited a lot of Russian trucks during the war, but it is mainly military owned.

 

 

 

Armed Forces:

 

The Bulgarian Army is poor in 2000, and is described as less technically advanced than the army that invaded Thrace in 1912 (surely an exaggeration). ESSB describes Bulgarian forces as typically without motor transport, artillery, tanks and other armoured vehicles and good supply (probably no different to anyone else in 2000, and better than many of its neighbours).  However they do not seem to be motivated too much beyond preserving their own hold on power and keeping the loot for themselves.  

 

Bulgarian equipment is not so poor and a lot better than Albania’s.  Tanks seem to be strictly T-55 although they had T-72s and T-34/85’s. Other vehicles include BRDM-2’s, BRDM-1’s, MT-LB’s, and BTR-60/50’s. Artillery is a mix of towed 122mm howitzers (must have some 152mm somewhere), 100mm and 76,2mm Anti-tank guns, and BM-21 MRL’s, There is also SO-122 SP mortars, 120mm towed mortars, AT-3 Anti-Tank Missiles, RPG-7’s and ZU-23-4 and 37mm AAG’s and SA-6 SAM’s.  They also have Mi-24, Mi-8, Mi-4, and Mi-2 helicopters. Some may still be kept airworthy as they have access to oil.

 

 

 

1st Army

 

1st Guards Motor Rifle Training Division

This division was badly damaged during the invasion of Romania. It was withdrawn to Sofia in 1997 for rest and refit where it has remained ever since.

Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Manpower: 800

 

28th Motor Rifle Division

This unit’s was badly damaged during the surprise Turkish Christmas attack. It was sent to Sofia area for refit and is currently in cantonment in the city of Belogradcik.

Location: Belogradcik, Bulgaria

Manpower: 1,000

Tanks: 2 (2x T-55)

 

9th Tank Brigade

This unit was one of the spearhead in the attack on Romania. It was mauled but stayed active until recalled to Bulgaria in 1998. It is currently in cantonment in the city of Rila.

Location: Rila, Bulgaria

Manpower: 600                    

Tanks: 3 (3x T-55)

 

 

2nd Army

 

2nd Motor Rifle Division

This unit’s war record is unknown but may have been retained in Bulgaria for home defence duties. It is currently in cantonment in the city of Stara Zagora.

Location: Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

Manpower: 2,000

 

17th Motor Rifle Division

This unit was disbanded in the early 1990’s and hastily reformed in 1997 and sent to Romania. It fought with distinction in Romania and was withdrawn to Bulgaria in 1999 to assume internal security duties. 

Location: Khaskovo, Bulgaria

Manpower: 1,200

 

19th Motor Rifle Training Division

This unit had a similar functionn to the 18th division and was strictly a training unit for the 1st and 2nd Armies. It is currently in cantonment in the city of Pazardzik.

Location: Pazardzik, Bulgaria

Manpower: 1,800

 

5th Tank Brigade

This unit was disbanded in the early 1990’s and was reformed using cadres from other Bulgarian tank brigades and reinforces with a battalion of motorized infantry from the 7th MRD, and sent to China to assist Bulgaria’s Soviet allies. In early 2000 the commander pulled the division from the Chinese Front and began marching back to Europe along the Siberian railroad. It is currently as far west as Cheremkovo in Siberia, near Lake Baikal.

Location: Cheremkovo, Siberia

Manpower: 300

 

11th Tank Brigade

This unit’s war record is unknown. It is currently in cantonment in the city of Karlova.

Location: Karlova, Bulgaria

Manpower: 500

Tank: 1 (1x T-55)

 

2nd Army Reconnaissance Battalion

This unit’s war record is unknown. It is currently in cantonment in Sofia serving as an escort for the Bulgarian High Command.

Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Manpower: 100

Tanks: 4 (4x BRDM-2)

 

 

3rd Army

 

3rd Motor Rifle Division

This unit’s war record is unknown but may have been retained in Bulgaria for home defence duties.  It is currently in cantonment in the city of Burgas.

Location: Burgas. Bulgaria

Manpower: 1,500

Boats: 39

 

 

7th Motor Rifle Division

This unit’s war record is unknown. It is currently in cantonment in the city of Yambol and functions as a second line of defense in case of a Turkish attack..

Location: Yambol, Bulgaria

Manpower: 1,200

 

18th Motor Rifle Training Division

This unit was little more than a training unit during the war with its trainees shipped out to other units. It is currently in cantonment in the city of Shumen watching the Romanian border.

Location: Shumen, Bulgaria

Manpower: 1,400

 

13th Tank Brigade

This unit’s war record is unknown. It is currently in cantonment in the city of Sliven.

Location: Sliven, Bulgaria

Manpower: 300

Tanks: 4 (4x T-55)

 

24th Tank Brigade

This unit’s war record is unknown. It is currently in cantonment in the city of Aytos and is known to be extorting from the local population and travelers through the area.

Location: Aytos, Bulgaria

Manpower: 400    

Tanks: 4 (4x T-55)

 

 

High Command Reserve

 

1st Assault Transport Helicopter Regiment

No information about this unit other than it is in Sofia. It may operate some helicopters due to the availability of Romanian oil.

Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Manpower: Unknown

 

 

 

 

This is what the Bulgarian Army was in real life Circa.1988.

 

 

 

BULGARIAN PEOPLE'S ARMY (BKA)

 

 

       1st BKA Army HQ - located Sofia, BU:

 

        9th BKA Tank Brigade (Cat A) - Sofia, BU: (T-72 and D-30)

        1st BKA Guards Motorized Rifle Division (Cat A) - Sofia, BU: (T-55, BMP-1, BTR-60, SA-6, D-30)

       28th BKA Motorized Rifle Division (Cat A) - near Sofia, BU: (T-55, BTR-60, SA-6, D-30)

        1st BKA Artillery Brigade - Sofia, BU: (D-20 and ML-20)

        1st BKA Anti-Aircraft Regiment - Sofia, BU: (S-60)

        1st BKA SSM Regiment - Sofia, BU: (SCUD)

 

       2nd BKA Army HQ - located Plovdiv, BU:

 

      5th BKA Tank Brigade (Cat A) - Karlovo, BU: (T-55 and D-30)

        11th BKA Tank Brigade (Cat A) - Kazanluk, BU: (T-55 and D-30)

        2nd BKA Motorized Rifle Division (Cat A) - Pazardzhik, BU: (T-55, BTR-60, SA-6, D-30)

        17th BKA Motorized Rifle Division (Cat A) - Stara Zagora, BU: (T-55, BTR-60, SA-6, D-30)

        19th BKA Motorized Rifle Division (Cat C) - Khaskovo, BU: (T-55, BTR-60, SA-6, D-30)

        2nd BKA Artillery Brigade - Plovdiv, BU: (D-20 and ML-20)

        2nd BKA Anti-Aircraft Regiment - Plovdiv, BU (S-60)

        2nd BKA SSM Regiment - Plovdiv, BU:(FROG-7)

     

       3rd BKA Army HQ - Sliven, BU:

 

        13th BKA Tank Brigade (Cat A) - Sliven, BU: (T-55 and D-30)

        24th BKA Tank Brigade (Cat A) - Shumen, BU: (T-55 and D-30)

        3rd BKA Motorized Rifle Division (Cat A) - Shumen, BU: (T-55, BTR-60, SA-6, D-30)

        7th BKA Motorized Rifle Division (Cat A) - Burgas, BU: (T-55, BTR-60, SA-6, D-30)

        18th BKA Motorized Rifle Division (Cat C) - Elkhovo, BU: (T-55, BTR-60, SA-6, D-30)

        3rd BKA Artillery Brigade - Sliven, BU: (D-20 and ML-20)

        3rd BKA Anti-Aircraft Regiment - Sliven, (S-60)

        3rd BKA SSM Regiment - Sliven, BU: (FROG-7)

       1st BKA Air Assault Brigade (Cat A) - Sofia, BU:

       1st BKA SAM Brigade - Sofia, BU: (SA-4)

       4th BKA Anti-Aircraft Regiment - Sofia, BU: (S-60)

       1st BKA Helicopter Regiment - Sofia, BU: (40 MI-24, 40 MI-8)

        1ST BKA Naval Infantry Battalion (Cat A) - Varna, BU: (TR-60, 120mm mortar, SA-7)

 

BKA Air Forces

 

        1st BKA Air Army HQ - located Sofia, BU:

 

       4 Fighter Regiments: 36 MIG-19, 100 MIG-21, 40 MIG-23

        2 Fighter-Bomber Regiments: 45 MIG-27, 30 MIG-17

        Recon Regiment: 24 MIG-25R.

 

       Air Defense Forces: 210 SA-2 and SA-3 deployed to 30 sites.

 

 

BKA Reserves

 

Note: The BKA reserves consist of 4 Motorized Rifle Divisions. Two of which are equipped with the T-34, the other two with T-55's, all four have BTR-60's, no BMP's. Mobilization time is 2 to 4 weeks.