Romania's Ministry of Defense reported that, during the early hours of September 23-24, a group of aerial targets was detected north of the town of Chilia Veche, in Ukrainian territory and near the border with Romania.
Due to the possibility that they could enter NATO airspace, two F-18 fighter jets from Spain's Air and Space Force, assigned to NATO's Enhanced Air Policing combat service (eAP-2), took off from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base 57 to monitor the situation.
At 4:41 a.m., authorities sent an alert message to residents in northern Tulcea County, which remained active until 5:44 a.m.
Romania's Ministry of Defense stressed that the situation was dynamic, as a new intrusion by an aerial object was detected at daybreak. The object remained in Romanian airspace for approximately four minutes before crashing near the town of Solca, in Suceava County, causing no casualties or material damage.
FIRST SHOOTDOWN
Two F-18 fighter jets from Ala 12, deployed at the 'Paznic' Detachment in Romania, were involved in a similar incident on August 16. The aircraft were also activated in the early hours while on alert duty, after an unidentified aerial track originating from the Black Sea was detected.
On that occasion, the F-18s intercepted and visually identified the target and, after receiving authorization, shot it down with an air-to-air missile.
It was the first shootdown of a drone in Romania carried out by an ally other than the Romanian Air Force itself, as well as the first time a Spanish fighter jet had brought down an aerial threat since Spain joined NATO.
