EUROPE / FOREIGN DRONE EVENTS

Controlled disposal · Bulgaria

Navy destroys floating drone at sea off Cape Kolokita, Bulgaria

· Cape Kolokita — waters

Officially reported UAV recovery/disposal; operator unknown

On 2 September 2026 a drone (UAV) was found floating in the waters off Cape Kolokita, reported as Bulgarian coastal or territorial waters. The Navy identified it and destroyed it at sea. The response was announced on 3 September.

No operator or national origin has been announced, and the model was not specified. The date of the drone's flight or crash is unknown, as is any link to other airframes recovered on the Bulgarian coast. No payload was reported, and the method of destruction is not evidence of one.

Cape Kolokita was identified as a separate location in the same official release, which described six Navy tasks; it was one of three offshore response sites handled from the Navy's Burgas base.

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Image from the The Sofia Globe report: Bulgarian Navy responds to several more drone incidents
Image · The Sofia Globe · Open report ↗
Image from the Petel report: Bulgarian Navy six-task coastal and maritime response account
Image · Petel · Open report ↗

Attribution and uncertainty

Origin / operator / attribution
No operator or national origin announced for this object.
Investigation / uncertainty
Flight/crash date, operator and link to other recovered airframes unresolved.

Sources · 2

  1. The Sofia Globe ↗Bulgarian Navy responds to several more drone incidents2026-09-03
  2. Petel ↗Bulgarian Navy six-task coastal and maritime response account2026-09-04

Full record

Controlled disposalRecovery

Controlled disposal by authorities after discovery; kept separate from incident explosions. Replay uses the discovery date, with any later disposal retained as a linked stage.

Map positions are approximate anchors for the named place, not verified incident coordinates.

Reported date
2026-09-02
Record type
discovery_recovery
End date / linked stage
2026-09-02
Date basis
Operation 2 September; announced 3 September, later reprinted.
Location / jurisdiction
Cape Kolokita waters; reported Bulgarian coastal/territorial waters
Event categories
Floating aerial-drone discovery; naval identification; in-situ destruction
What was reported
One of three Burgas-base offshore response sites in the Ministry’s six-task announcement.
Aircraft / vessel / quantity
UAV/object at one response site; model unspecified
Origin / operator / attribution
No operator or national origin announced for this object.
Damage / casualties / disruption
Not reported in cited account.
Response / outcome
Navy identified the UAV and destroyed it at sea.
Investigation / uncertainty
Flight/crash date, operator and link to other recovered airframes unresolved.
Route / entry mechanism
Not established in cited account.
Explosive payload
Not reported; no inference from disposal method.
Counting / links
No matching baseline event. Cape Kolokita response is a separately identified 2 September location in the same multi-task release.
Research provenance
New finding; local reporting of official response; attribution limited to cited account.

Record N030. Record fields keep the register’s original wording.