Romania Scrambles F-16s After Drone Penetrates Its Airspace

Overview

• Romania’s defense ministry said radar picked up a drone about 8 kilometers inside national airspace, intermittently for roughly 12 minutes, before the track disappeared.
• Two additional Romanian F-16s were mobilized while two German fighters deployed in the country were monitoring the border area with Ukraine.
• Authorities issued phone alerts to residents in Tulcea and Galati counties as a precaution.
• Moldova confirmed an overnight drone overflight at low altitude following information-sharing with Romania and Ukraine, noting it was not detected by local surveillance systems.
• Officials reported no impacts on the ground and made no public attribution, framing the incident as part of recurring cross-border drone activity since 2022.