Friday, July 24 saw a Romanian F-16 fighter plane down a UAV following an incursion into Bucharest’s airspace.
President Nicusor Dan confirmed the action, but did not specify the origin of the drone. He took to his account on X, formerly Twitter, to reassure the public:
The area [near the town of Padina in Buzau County] was uninhabited, so the pilot was able to shoot without any risk. Currently, teams of the relevant institutions are investigating the area to come up with all the details about the incident.
This is believed to be the first time Dan’s NATO and European Union member state has responded in this way, following multiple such incursions, although jets have been scrambled in response to UAVs on numerous occasions. This time, two Italian Eurofighter Typhoons based in Romania joined the two Romanian F-16 jets in taking this defensive action.
An investigation is now underway, with Russia the device’s suspected point of origin.
Last month, a marine drone, probably Ukrainian, caused the evacuation of the entire Port of Constanța when it exploded in berth 78 of the Black Sea coastal facility.
