Romania has recently deployed fighter jets in response to drones breaching its airspace, marking this as the second occurrence in just two days. Concerns are rising regarding the potential spillover of drone activity linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine into NATO territory, particularly in Romania, near strategic Ukrainian Danube ports.
The Romanian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday the deployment of two F-16 jets alongside two Spanish F-18s after a drone was detected flying inland in Constanta, southeastern Romania.
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This latest drone incursion occurred around 4 a.m. local time in the Gura Portiţei region, although the combat aircraft lost visual contact with the object shortly thereafter; radar signals disappeared about thirty minutes later, south of Cogealac, according to News.ro.
The drone managed to penetrate 11 miles into Romanian airspace, yet the military planes never saw it. The air alert lifted by 5:10 a.m., and the aircraft returned to their base while an investigation was launched with NATO allies being updated on the situation.
This incident follows a day earlier when army radars detected a small flying object, presumed to be another drone, heading towards Constanta before it also lost signal.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu indicated that the Defense Ministry is exploring the possibility of a “cyber challenge” since the pilots lacked visual contact with the drone, as reported by Reuters.
Last month, eastern NATO member countries, known as the Bucharest 9, urged for a unified response to the increasing drone threats in their regions. According to NATO’s Article 5, an attack on one member is regarded as an attack on all, though no direct accusations have been made against Russia for targeting NATO.
Nonetheless, NATO is focusing on enhancing Integrated Air and Missile Defense capabilities across Europe, especially along the eastern flank. Reports from the independent Russian outlet Verstka mentioned that debris from missiles and drones had fallen within NATO territories on 20 occasions, predominantly in Romania, with similar incidents reported in Bulgaria, Poland, Latvia, and Croatia.
Amid escalating security tensions due to the Ukraine conflict, members of NATO’s eastern flank have accused Russia of executing “hybrid attacks.”