Spanish F-18 Shoots Down Drone That Entered Romanian Airspace, Fourth Case This Year

A Spanish F-18 fighter jet, part of NATO’s airspace monitoring mission, destroyed a drone after it illegally entered Romanian airspace.

Romania’s Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that it was the fourth drone shot down by Romania this year.

According to the authorities, the aircraft was detected by radar as it crossed from Moldova into Romanian territory, about 24 kilometers north of the southeastern city of Galati. The ministry provided no information about the drone’s origin.

Romania, a NATO member, shares a 614-kilometer land border with Ukraine. Over the past four years, the country has faced several incursions by Russian drones into its airspace. Meanwhile, mines have been spotted drifting in the Black Sea along key trade and energy supply corridors.

The Defense Ministry said the F-18 “made radar contact with the target and received permission to engage it.” The drone was safely shot down at 05:01 a.m.

Romanian authorities said the drone’s debris is believed to have landed in an uninhabited area between two villages.

Three Russian drones that had entered national airspace were shot down in July by Romanian F-16 fighter jets. This was Romania’s first action of its kind, following dozens of similar incidents recorded during more than four years of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this year, a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in Galati during an overnight attack on neighboring Ukraine, injuring two people.