Bulgarian Navy The Bulgarian Navy ( ) is the navy of Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of the Bulgarian Armed Forces . It has been largely overlooked in the reforms that Bulgaria had to go through in order to comply with NATO standards , mostly because of the great expense involved and the fact that naval assaults are not considered to be a great concern for the country ' s security . That is why three of the four Romeo class submarine s ( excluding " Slava " ) are now docked and have been out of operation for some time . The last one was decommissioned in November 2011 . Only the more modern frigates , corvettes and missile crafts are on active duty . In order to meet at least some of the NATO requirements , in 2005 the Bulgarian government bought from Belgium a " Wielingen " - class frigate , the BNS " Wandelaar " ( F - 912 ) ( built in 1977 ) , and renamed it to the BG " Drazki " . In 2005 , Bulgarian ship " Smeli " for first time took part as full NATO member in NATO OAE ( " Operation Active Endaevour " ) . In 2006 , following a decision of the Bulgarian Parliament , " Drazki " took part in the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon ( UNIFIL ) , patrolling the territorial waters of Lebanon under German command . This was the first time ever the Bulgarian Navy took part in an international peacekeeping operation . The Bulgarian government purchased two " Wielingen " - class frigates and one Tripartite minehunter in 2007 . The Bulgarian Navy is centred in two main bases . One is near the city of Varna . The other is Atiya Naval Base , near the city of Burgas . Structure . " Division " is the equivalent of land forces battalion or air force squadron as the Bulgarian navy follows the Russian naval tradition , according to which an " Operational Squadron " or " Оперативная эскадра " is a temporary formation , an equivalent of a land forces division and in modern times a " Squadron " of the Russian Navy is an equivalent of a land forces corps . According to the reform plans envisioned in the White Paper on Defence 2010 the two naval bases would be merged into one with two base facilities in Varna and Burgas . The manpower of the Navy would account to about 3 400 seamen . The AS . 565MB naval helicopters ordered are reduced from 6 to 3 units . Between 2011 and 2020 the naval " Longterm Investment plan " should come into action , providing the sea arm of the Bulgarian military with modernised ships and new equipment . Naval Specialised Research and Analysis Division . The NSRAD ( ) was a clandestine agency within the Navy , intended to conduct intelligence gathering and " unofficial " paramilitary operations . Due to the fact , that most of its operatives also had a significant training in IT sciences , the division probably also served as Bulgarian Navy ' s equivalent of the United States Cyber Command . It was disbanded in January 2005 for reasons unknown , but probably related to recent acceptance of Bulgaria to NATO . All information about its organisation and personnel remains sketchy at best ( see : Gamma unit , Omicron unit , Theta unit , Zeta unit ) . Virtually all operations , conducted by the division , were false flag operations with no records surviving , suggesting that the division operated outside established chain of command . Omicron Unit . Omicron unit was the code name of the 2nd tactical unit / Operative section of the NSRAD . It was under command of lieutenant ( promoted in 2004 to captain - lieutenant ) Alexander Ryenski ( Bulgarian : Александър Риенски ) . The name of the unit commander is most likely an alias . Zeta Unit . Zeta unit was the code name of the 4th tactical unit / Operative section of Bulgarian Naval specialised research and analysis division . It was under command of lieutenant Daniel Stoyanov ( Bulgarian : Даниел Стоянов ) . The name of the unit commander is most likely an alias . Ships . The Bulgarian navy will modernise three of its Wielingen class frigate s by 2014 , the frigate s will be equipped with landing pads , allowing helicopters to land and take off from the ships ' decks . Aircraft . 3 Eurocopter AS565 Panther 4 Mil Mi - 14 to be modernized