Romania downs suspicious drone near key NATO base amid security concerns

The Romanian armed forces noticed a suspicious flying object, probably a drone, near the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base near Constanta. The Digi24.ro website reported this, the second such incident recently.

The Romanian military's radar systems recorded the presence of an unidentified drone near the base's airport. According to information provided by Digi24.ro, a few minutes after detecting the object, probably a small civilian drone, it was shot down. Consequently, there was no need to use measures to disrupt its operation, reports Digi.

As already mentioned, this is the second case of detection of unknown drones near this base within just a few days.

The News.ro portal, citing sources in the national defence ministry, reported that "on Monday, between 3:30 AM and 5:30 AM Greenwich Time, soldiers serving at the 57th Air Base named after Mihail Kogalniceanu reported the presence in the air, near the Mihail Kogalniceanu International Airport, of an unmanned flying system, followed by two others."

At the 57th Air Base Mihail Kogalniceanu, both Romanian and allied air forces are stationed, participating in the Air Policing mission over the Black Sea.

The media recently reported that the air base near Constanta will be modernized and expanded. "The government has allocated £2.1 billion for this purpose. The project aims to transform the base in the Constanta district into the biggest NATO facility in Europe," Euronews Romania reported in March.