Romania shoots down drone breaching airspace
Bucharest, July 24
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said Friday that Romania shot down a drone breaching its airspace in Buzau County.
He said that the authorities are conducting investigations at the scene of the incident to establish all the circumstances in which the drone entered Romania's airspace and to identify it, Xinhua News Agency reported.
"It is important to note that the area was uninhabited, which is why the pilot was able to fire from above," Dan added.
Romania's Ministry of National Defence said in a press release that its radar surveillance system detected an aerial target approximately 20 km east of Sulina. The track subsequently penetrated the national airspace. An F-16 fighter aircraft of the Romanian Air Force engaged the target with an air-to-air missile and neutralised it over an unpopulated area in the vicinity of Padina, Buzau County.
Two Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, conducting NATO Air Policing Service, and two Romanian Air Force F-16 aircraft were scrambled to respond to the situation.
In early June, a maritime drone self-detonated in Romania's Constanta port, causing no casualties, Romania's Ministry of National Defence has revealed.
A statement issued by the Ministry of National Defence detailed that the drone was not part of the equipment of the Romanian Army and was not involved in the recent exercises organised by the Ministry of National Defence in the Black Sea area.
In May, a Russian drone hit a residential building in Galati city of Romania, igniting a fire and injuring two people.
Romania summoned the Ambassador of Russia to Romania, Vladimir Lipayev, to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the incident.
Romanian Foreign Minister Toiu Oana said that the Ministry of National Defence confirmed that the drone which crashed into a residential building in Galati was of Russian origin.
The incident was condemned by several leaders across the world.
— IANS
Reader Comments
It's quite alarming how drone incursions are becoming more frequent in the Black Sea region. The earlier incident in May where a Russian drone hit a residential building in Galati and injured two people shows this isn't an isolated event. But why wasn't the drone detected earlier? The Romanian military seems to be reacting, not preventing.
Europe is paying the price for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Romania is a NATO member and they are right to shoot down any drone that violates their airspace. But what worries me is the "drone self-detonated in Constanta port" incident mentioned - nobody claimed responsibility for that maritime drone? How did it get so close to a port? India, with its long coastline and new naval assets, must invest heavily in drone detection and counter-drone systems. We cannot afford such vulnerabilities. 🤔
The use of both Romanian F-16s and Italian Eurofighters shows NATO's integrated air policing at work. But is this really a wise response? Shooting down a drone with a missile over a populated area, even if uninhabited at that moment, could have caused a disaster. And nobody is even sure whose drone it was - or what its mission was. India should think carefully before mimicking such aggressive responses in our own border areas.
Romania summoning the Russian ambassador shows the diplomatic tensions. This is no small matter - a Russian drone hit a residential building in May and injured civilians. Now another drone breaching airspace. Europe's security architecture is being tested daily. From an Indian perspective, we need to strengthen our own air defence radar network across the borders with Pakistan and China, and also in the Andaman and Nicobar region. Better safe than sorry! 🇮🇳
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