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Bulgaria, U.S. hold airdrop drill near Plovdiv

Xinhua, July 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

More than 120 paratroopers jumped at the Open Day of the joint Bulgarian-U.S. military exercise "Thracian summer 2015" on Thursday near Plovdiv, some 150 km southeast of here.

Fast-roping, emergency and rescue operations, as well as aero-medical evacuation were also demonstrated at the event held at Krumovo Airbase and Plovdiv Airport in the presence of Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev.

During the 17-day drill ending on July 26, over 400 Bulgarian paratroopers jointly with some 20 U.S. paratroopers have been training mandatory elements of the preparation of special operations forces, including day and night parachute jumps.

Bulgarian transport aircraft C-27J Spartan and helicopters Mi - 17 and "Cougar", as well as U.S. transport aircraft C-130 are also involved in the exercise.

In 2014, Bulgarian armed forces participated in 57 joint exercises with the U.S. Army, including 39 in Bulgaria and 18 abroad, the country's ministry of defense has said in a report. Endit