Romania Scrambles Fighters Twice in One Day Amid Drone Surge
Authorities warned residents and launched air patrols after radar tracked suspected drone contacts near the border, as Romania logged 25 unauthorized incursions in 2026.
- On Tuesday, two Spanish Air and Space Force F-18 jets were scrambled from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base after radar detected an aerial target near Vylkove, located on Ukraine's border with Romania.
- Ministry of National Defense data shows 25 unauthorized drone incursions in 2026 compared to nine in 2025, reflecting escalating airspace violations as Russia's war in Ukraine intensifies regional tensions.
- Radar detected two targets 25 kilometers northwest of Snake Island on Monday at 22:37, while earlier intermittent signals over Moldova led to discovery of drone components in Ciuslea.
- Northern Tulcea County residents received RO-Alert warnings urging shelter, though officials confirmed no penetration of national airspace occurred during either the Tuesday or Monday radar events.
- These incidents reflect NATO's growing concerns that Russia's war in Ukraine could spill into alliance territory, driving increased vigilance and frequent scrambling of allied fighter detachments across the region.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Romania scrambles fighters twice in one day amid drone surge
Romania recorded 25 unauthorized drone incursions into national airspace or territorial waters during 2026, against nine in the whole of 2025, according to the incident dashboard maintained by the Ministry of National Defense (MApN) and current as of August 25, 2026. The same dashboard counts 47 situations in 2026 in which aircraft on air policing duty were launched to monitor the air situation, compared with 21 across 2025. MApN defines each f…
Two F-18s were sent to Rumoun, and two F-18s were sent to the town of Tulchi, and two F-18s were moved to the city of Wilkov.
Two aerial targets that were heading towards the border of Romania were detected on Monday evening, August 24, near the Island of the Serbs. Two F-18 fighter planes of the Spanish Air Force and Space Force were raised from the base 57 Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Force, and the population of northern Tulcea County received a RO-Alert message. MapN also raised the fighting planes on Tuesday morning. Article Air Alert at the border of Romania. Two Span…
In the area of Romania's border with Ukraine, an air target was detected on Tuesday morning, with two Spanish F-18 aircraft being raised on mission in Romania, according to MapN. The air alert stopped at 09:04. No entries in the national airspace have been reported, MapN announces. Initial news: The radar surveillance system of the Ministry of Defence ...
Two aerial targets were detected, Monday evening, 25 kilometers from the Island of the snakes, heading towards the border of Romania, so that two F-18 aircraft were lifted to monitor the situation, the Ministry of National Defence announced. At the same time, a RO-Alert message was issued for the north of Tulcea County. Subsequently, contacts disappeared from radar, explosions on the Ukrainian side being reported. No penetrations were detected i…
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