Bulgarian Fire (cruise missile)

History

During the 1980s, due to expenses, then-modern Smerch MLRS and late-variant Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile systems could not be purchased for the Bulgarian People’s Army, so the development of a Bulgarian cruise missile began. The development was initiated at the Institute for defense research at G. S. Rakovski National Defence Academy (which is state owned and still holds the blueprints/schematics/production instruction/design of the missile), the project was code named "wild dream", and was being carried out by a team led by Prof. Evgeny Gindev, who was at the time the manager of the institute. The missile was designated Bulgarian fire.

The missiles were likely produced in VMZ Sopot (it is classified where most locally produced missiles in use with the Bulgarian People’s Army were produced, with a possibility that parts may have also been produced in Samel 90 factories which are privatized, though it is unlikely because far more missile technology is produced at VMZ Sopot which has far greater technological capabilities when it comes to missile manufacturing) (which is still mostly state owned)(the reason why it does not show up as an export option with VMZ-Sopot may be because of its use of a prohibited warhead and termination of project after 1990) so production for the missile is still possible.

Characteristics

The missile has a range of at least 780.5 km (given the fact that it was almost used in an operation to hit Ankara, and this is the distance between the Bulgarian border and Ankara), and uses the VSU-10 engine. It is a medium-range supersonic missile, but could possibly be long-range. The missile primarily used a Thermobaric warhead which was apparently capable of engulfing the entire Istanbul in flames (the explosive radius would not necessarily need to be large, but the incendiary factor makes it so that the fire from the explosion could be carried throughout the city) (but also had the ability to carry a small Soviet-made nuclear warhead).

Operational use

The missile had entered service by 1989 and had a range of at least 780.5 km as that is the distance between the Bulgarian border and Ankara, the operation where the missile was utilized being intended to destroy Ankara with strategic rockets, and no other surface to surface rocket was taken along for the operation. The missile was deployed during the Bulgarian-Turkish border crisis of June 1989 (also known as "Operation Han Tervel") when a 736-man-strong group of soldiers was sent to the Bulgarian-Turkish border to respond to threats being made that the Turkish army would enter Sofia. These soldiers were armed with highly advanced Soviet made S-300 SAM systems and Bulgarian produced “Bulgarian Fire” cruise missile systems(which were stationed in Sliven and Kotel in hidden bunkers referred to as “dungeons” (by Bulgarian People’s Army intelligence) before being sent out to the Turkish border). The cruise missile launch steps were raised from "false" and brought up to "warming up" (literal translation of launch phase titles in Bulgarian). The "Bulgarian Fire" cruise missiles were likely withdrawn from service in 1990 possibly due to the fact that the conventional warheads used in the missile were incendiary warheads (which were apparently capable of engulfing the entire area of Istanbul in flames, and the use of these kinds of weapons in a populated area are prohibited) and were considered incendiary weapons (many Warsaw pact countries signed treaties that they did not abide until the fall of socialism, such as chemical and biological weapons treaties that Bulgaria signed and ratified during socialism but refused to abide until the fall of socialism, this was the case here, where Bulgaria ratified the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons on 15.10.1982 but did not abide it until socialism officially stopped being the economic system of Bulgaria in 1990).

Former operators

People's Republic of Bulgaria Bulgarian People's Army Bulgaria Bulgarian army