 During the Warsaw Pact's major scale maneuvers in the 1980s the Bulgarian MiG-23s were even able to intercept Soviet MiG-25 recon planes, entering Bulgarian airspace from Romania and flying at speeds of Mach=2.5+ and altitudes of 20000+ meters.In 1982 the 18th Fighter Air Regiment's 3rd Squadron was disbanded.This unit has for long time been the air defence force's operational training unit for fighter pilots.