The departing Romanian authorities had practically destroyed everything related to the airfield - the equipment had been removed, the windows were broken or the buildings half-destroyed, the water wells blocked.

To ensure the protection of German transports during their passage from Kyustendja to the Bosphorus, a joint troop formation was established on August 4, 1941, under the command of Captain Koychev.

This combined force included a squadron from the 223rd Platoon of the 2nd Army Air Regiment, equipped with five Letov-Šmolik Š-328 Vrana aircraft manufactured in the Czechoslovak Republic, stationed at Balchik airfield.

To effectively cover the entire Bulgarian coast, an additional four Vrana aircraft were deployed at Sarafovo airfield near Burgas, forming a squadron of the 333rd Platoon of the 3rd Army Air Regiment.

Although lacking specialized anti-submarine warfare equipment, the Vrana aircraft were armed with 4 to 6 bombs and four machine guns, making them capable of deterring submarines and safeguarding convoys.

While operationally subordinate to the army headquarters, specific tasks related to the protection of transports were coordinated with the representative of the German General Command Post at Cape Galata.