Frogfoot Feast; Bezmer Open House

Report and photos by Robin Polderman

The Unit Report learned about an Open House at Bezmer airbase in Bulgaria, home of NATO's only Su-25 Frogfoot aircraft, to be held on the 29th of May.

In the days surrounding the 1st of June, celebrated as Children Day, a number of airbases belonging to the Bulgarian Air Force usually open their gates to the public. Being events of a modest nature, they attract little attention apart from the local public. When it transpired some flying of the based Su-25s might take place during the event the author became interested, and the various weather apps were constantly monitored to see if the weather would cooperate on the day the base would open its doors. During May, in the middle of the transition from spring to summer, Bulgarian weather is know to be notoriously unstable at times. In the days leading up to the Open House, the area had seen considerable rainfall, but the forecast for the Friday seemed decent.

Making the trek to Bezmer proved to be the right decision, as the Open Day turned out to be an amazing, yet small scale event, with excellent opportunities for photography.

The airbase of Bezmer, also known as the 22nd Air Base, is located in the Thrace region of south-eastern Bulgaria, close to the city of Yambol. The area surrounding this city is known for its excellent wine and rakia (grape or plum brandy), another reason for a visit!

The base is in existence since 1951, and will celebrate its 75th anniversary in the fall, possibly by staging another open door event, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Su-25 in Bulgarian service.

The MiG-15UTi and MiG-17 aircraft at Bezmer gave way to the Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot starting in 1986, with 36 Su-25K single-seaters and four Su-25UBK twin-seaters finding their way to Bulgaria. The economic hardship of the nineties saw a number of Frogfeet being prematurely withdrawn and sold off to third parties Eventually the decision was made to upgrade a number of Su-25 aircraft not only to increase their survivability and usefulness on the modern battlefield, but also to increase their interoperability with NATO partners.

The initial 2018 contract for the overhaul and upgrade of fourteen aircraft signed with the 558 Авиационный ремонтный завод (558 Aircraft Repair Plant) at Baranovichi in Belarus was down scaled to eight Su-25s, with the first one arriving back at Bezmer in September of 2020 onboard an Il-76 cargo aircraft, after more than a year abroad.

The last of the eight modernized Su-25s was received on 11 February 2021. The upgrade sees the aircraft equipped with satellite navigation, dual MFDs and a new Head-Up-Display in the cockpit as well as new communication equipment. An interesting edition to the weaponry of the upgraded Su-25 is the R-73 air-to-air missile, not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a rugged close support aircraft. The R-73 significantly increases the self defense capability of the Frogfoot, which relied on the shorter range (8 vs 30 kilometres / 4 vs 16 NM) R-60 missile before receiving the upgrade.

The overhaul prolonged the service life of the Frogfoot until roughly 2028. By that time the second batch of eight Lockheed-Martin F-16C/D should have been delivered to Bulgaria, which might signal the end for the Su-25. However, as of yet, no decision has been made on retirement and the Frogfoot continues to safeguard Bulgarian skies. Currently, seven Su-25 (five single-seat and a pair of twin-seaters) are on the inventory of the 22nd AB, with more non-upgraded examples in reserve. One upgraded Su-25 was written off in a non-fatal accident in September of 2022. The overhauled and upgraded Su-25s arrived from Belarus sporting a pixelated green/brown camouflage and can therefore be easily distinguished from the non-upgraded examples.

The gates of Bezmer airbase opened at 09:30 sharp and, after registering, people were allowed to enter by car. While passing the row of preserved aircraft on base (a Yak-23, L-29, MiG-15UTi and MiG-17), the small static display quickly came into view. Two Su-25K aircraft, one upgraded example and one non-upgraded, were parked on a dispersal to allow visitors to take a close look, including a peak in the cockpit. The non-upgraded aircraft, bort 197, carried ’30 years Su-25 in Bulgarian service’ markings and during the author's last visit to Bezmer, in the fall of 2016, this aircraft was on the flightline and still operational.

Several Su-25 missions were flown between 10:00 and 14:00, with each of the four aircraft parked on the flightline taking to the air at least twice. Each Frogfoot carried four UB-32 pods for 57mm rockets, with most also fitted out with inert air-to-air missiles for training.

During the flights, multiple passes were made showing off the agility of the Su-25. When flown by a good pilot, it does have a rather small turn radius!

Throughout the event the enthusiasm of the base personnel was both noteworthy as well as contagious. The old saying ‘when you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life’, certainly applies to the people employed at the 22nd Air Base. The staff seems proud to serve their country and went out of their way to entertain not only the attending children but also the twenty-or-so full grown kids carrying expensive camera gear. To be able to set foot on the flightline and taxiways to witness Su-25 operations from up close felt like a real privilege, in particular as these mighty beasts will not be around forever.

To Team Bezmer: Благодаря!