Once a 44-strong Mi-24 fleet, Bulgaria's attack helicopter capability was cut in half in 1999. It originally included 38 Mi-24D Hind-Ds, delivered between 1979 and 1985, and six more Mi-24V Hind-Es taken in 1986, but the type has suffered from a significant lack of serviceability due to the limited supply of otherwise vital and expensive spare parts, such as main and tail rotor blades, as well as expired engine and airframe time between overhauls (TBO). During the mid- to late-2000s, the six Mi-24Vs were the only attack helicopters remaining in operation with the Bulgarian Air Force (BuAF), with one or two examples maintained in airworthy status at any time. The fleet was finally grounded in early 2011 due to service life expiry of their airframes, originally limited to 20 years of operations. There were two attempts to launch significant avionics and weapons upgrades for the BuAF Hind fleet in 2005 and 2008 respectively, but both failed. Then in 2014, the BuAF eventually decided to invest in the simple overhaul and life extension of the six Mi-24Vs in order to retain a generic attack capability. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the Mi-24Ds were sold with only six kept in reserve.
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