Romania to host NATO's largest base, bolstering defense on Europe's edge

The news service Euronews Romania has announced the commencement of construction on what will be the largest NATO military base. This expansive facility, likened to the size of a small town, will occupy the site of the current 57th Romanian Air Force Base Mihail Kogălniceanu near Constanta. For this grand project, Bucharest has earmarked roughly £2.1 billion. The plan includes the construction of new runways, hangars for military aircraft, as well as the establishment of schools, kindergartens, shops, and a hospital.

In Romania, this military installation is set to become the largest NATO base in Europe, overshadowing the Ramstein base in Germany in terms of size. According to reports from Euronews Romania, the base will span approximately 2,993 hectares and will have the capacity to permanently house up to 10,000 soldiers. To put this into perspective, the Ramstein military base in Rhineland-Palatinate, southwestern Germany, which is regarded as the largest American air base in Europe, encompasses roughly 1,400 hectares.

"The Mihail Kogălniceanu base will emerge as NATO's most significant permanent military establishment in close proximity to the ongoing conflict in southern Ukraine. We shouldn't anticipate this conflict to conclude this year, in 2025, or even 2026; it's a prolonged engagement," noted Dorin Popescu, a Romanian military and political analyst, as reported by Euro News Romania.

The service Topwar.ru highlighted that the base is likened to an "unsinkable aircraft carrier on the Black Sea". It will boast new runways, aircraft hangars, weapon storage and deployment facilities, fuel and lubricant depots, training apparatus, schools, kindergartens, retail outlets, and even a hospital. The base is projected to reach full operational capability by 2040.

Romania, with its strategic location on the Black Sea and in the vicinity of Ukraine, and its military installations, presently plays a pivotal role in NATO and United States operations. This strategic importance is partly due to the approximately 650 kilometres long border shared with Ukraine.

The Kiev Post reported that in November 2023, Romania inaugurated the European F-16 Training Centre (EFTC) at the 86th Gheorghe Mociorni air base in Fetesti. This facility provides training for Ukrainian and Romanian pilots of Western fighter jets. Additionally, the 57th and 87th air bases, along with the 71st air base near the town of Câmpia Turzii, are regularly utilized by Americans. The latter is capable of launching not only American F-16 fighters but also MQ-9 Reaper drones.

The MQ-9 Reaper drone primarily serves intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) roles, besides performing assault missions. These drones operate both over land and sea. As successors to the well-regarded MQ-1 Predator drones, the MQ-9 Reapers are 11 metres long, have a height of around 4 metres, a wingspan of 20 metres and their maximum takeoff weight is just over 4,760 kilograms. The internal payload of the drone is about 385 kilograms, with an additional external payload capacity of up to 1,360 kilograms.

Operating over the Black Sea and monitoring the border with Ukraine, these drones provide critical support and intelligence for the alliance. They can remain airborne for approximately 27 hours, fly at a top speed of just over 480 km/h and reach a maximum altitude of 15,000 metres, with their operational range estimated to be around 5,900 kilometres. Furthermore, they are equipped with an AN/APY-8 Lynx synthetic aperture radar for high-resolution ground surveillance, an optoelectronic head featuring day and night cameras, as well as a laser rangefinder and target markers.

The advanced technology onboard MQ-9A Reapers enables the drones to coordinate with ground missile launchers by marking targets for them. Additionally, the drones have under-wing hardpoints for carrying air-to-ground missile systems such as AGM-114 Hellfire guided missiles, precision strike weapons like GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs, or GBU-38 JDAM bombs.