Recovery · Bulgaria
Navy retrieves drone found afloat off Cape Kaliakra in Bulgaria
· Cape Kaliakra — northeast coastal waters
Official retrieval reported; operator unresolved
In the late afternoon of 6 September 2026 a Navy team from Varna retrieved a floating drone (UAV) from coastal waters about 3.5 cables, or 650 m, northeast of Cape Kaliakra on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. The team was activated at the request of the Interior Ministry. The operation was reported on 7 September.
The drone's type, origin and operator have not been announced. When it flew or came down, and whether it is linked to other drones recovered along the coast, are unresolved.
The drone was assessed as safe for retrieval, although no detailed payload information was published, and it was taken to the naval base.
Attribution and uncertainty
- Origin / operator / attribution
- Origin/operator not announced.
- Investigation / uncertainty
- Flight/crash date, operator and link to other recovered airframes unresolved.
Sources · 2
Full record
Map positions are approximate anchors for the named place, not verified incident coordinates.
- Reported date
- 2026-09-06 (late afternoon)
- Record type
- discovery_recovery
- End date / linked stage
- 2026-09-06
- Date basis
- Previous-afternoon operation in 7 September reports.
- Location / jurisdiction
- About 3.5 cables / 650 m northeast of Cape Kaliakra; coastal waters
- Event categories
- Floating UAV discovery; naval recovery
- What was reported
- Varna naval team activated following an Interior Ministry request.
- Aircraft / vessel / quantity
- One UAV; type unspecified
- Origin / operator / attribution
- Origin/operator not announced.
- Damage / casualties / disruption
- Not reported in cited account.
- Response / outcome
- Assessed as safe and removed to the naval base.
- Investigation / uncertainty
- Flight/crash date, operator and link to other recovered airframes unresolved.
- Route / entry mechanism
- Not established in cited account.
- Explosive payload
- Reported safe for retrieval; detailed payload not published.
- Counting / links
- No matching baseline event. 6 September offshore retrieval is distinct from N029 on 2 September; 7 September articles are follow-ups, not new operations.
- Research provenance
- New finding; local reporting of official response; attribution limited to cited account.
Record N035. Record fields keep the register’s original wording.