(The Turkish Post) – Romanian F-16s shot down two drones over Romania’s Black Sea territorial waters near the town of Sulina on the evening of Oct. 17, minutes after the aircraft entered the country’s airspace, the Defense Ministry said.
The ministry later identified both as jet-powered attack drones of the Geran family, the Russian version of the Iranian-designed Shahed. The interceptions came after a week of drone strikes on merchant ships off Romania and Bulgaria, and Bucharest called a dedicated NATO meeting on Black Sea security for Oct. 20.
Romanian F-16s scrambled from Borcea
Two Romanian F-16s on air policing duty took off from the 86th Air Base at Borcea, near the city of Fetesti, at 5:43 p.m. local time, the ministry said. Military radar had detected a group of aerial targets about 120 kilometers east of Snake Island, flying southwest toward the Romanian coast.
The first drone entered Romanian airspace at 5:59 p.m. and was shot down by one of the jets at 6:01 p.m., about 25 kilometers southeast of Sulina. The second crossed into Romanian airspace at 6:01 p.m. and was destroyed by the other F-16 at 6:05 p.m., about 20 kilometers east of the town.
“Both aerial targets were identified as drones and were shot down over Romanian territorial waters,” the ministry said. Defense Minister Radu Miruta announced the interceptions by the Romanian F-16s on Facebook.
Geran drones and a week of incursions
In a later statement, the ministry said the two targets were Geran-family attack drones fitted with jet engines. It did not say where they had been launched from.
The ministry said its radar had tracked aerial targets moving through Ukrainian airspace near the Romanian border in eight separate incidents during the previous week. In four of them, drones entered Romanian airspace briefly and were not engaged.
Romania, a NATO member, shares a long border with Ukraine, much of it along the Danube opposite Ukrainian river ports that Russian forces have repeatedly attacked. Drones have entered Romanian airspace many times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In July, three drones that entered Romanian airspace were shot down in separate incidents over three days. Romania then summoned Russian Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev and expelled a member of the Russian Embassy, after investigators identified the first drone as a Russian Shahed-type aircraft.
Black Sea shipping under attack
The interceptions followed a series of incidents involving merchant ships in Romanian and Bulgarian waters. Two tankers caught fire off Sulina on Oct. 14 and Oct. 15, and the tanker fire off Romania on Oct. 15 left crew members missing.
A commercial vessel sank off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast after a drone attack on Oct. 13, and Sofia summoned Russia’s ambassador. Bulgarian officials have said they cannot prove who carried out the attacks.
Foreign Minister Oana Toiu said the Black Sea is a key route for world exports of grain and energy. “The Black Sea will be safe again,” she wrote on social media.
NATO allies to meet on Black Sea defense
At Romania’s request, the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s main decision-making body, will hold a dedicated meeting on Black Sea defense and deterrence on Oct. 20, Toiu said.
Bulgaria has separately asked the alliance for combat aircraft, air defense missiles and counter-drone systems. “We have sent letters and a request to the NATO Secretary General and the Supreme Allied Commander,” Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said on Oct. 16. A NATO official said ambassadors of the 32 allies would discuss the request the following week.
Stoyanov said he planned to meet his Romanian and Turkish counterparts to agree on a common approach to the situation in the Black Sea. Bulgaria has also proposed a moratorium on attacks on civilian ships.
Türkiye’s stake in Black Sea security
Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria are the three NATO members on the Black Sea coast. Türkiye controls the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, the only sea route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, under the 1936 Montreux Convention.
Turkish ships have been among those hit. On Oct. 5, the Turkish-owned cargo ship Royad Mammadov sank south of the Romanian town of Sfantu Gheorghe after a fire on board, and two of its crew died. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan proposed a moratorium on attacks against merchant ships in September.
Romania’s Defense Ministry said it would release further details once the mission of the Romanian F-16s was complete, and that it keeps adapting its response procedures to the drone threat.
