Romania scrambled F-16 fighter jets in eastern Romania after radar systems detected a breach of national airspace and residents received a warning about possible falling debris near the border with Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry reported that at around 20:45 on Wednesday, radar detected an air target near Chilia Veche in Tulcea county on the Danube. Residents were alerted and jets were deployed to monitor the situation.
The unidentified target then continued to move towards the town of Tulcea, and disappeared from radar around 21:00, about 12 km northeast of Tulcea, approximately 40 kilometers from the border town of Chilia Veche.
At 21:20, radar detected another signal from an airborne target 2 km north-west of Lake Razelmw which they said was likely another object. The target flew in the direction of Mihai Viteazu in Constanta County farther south and then towards the town of Jurilovca in Tulcea County, where it disappeared from radar 9 km northwest. It disappeared from the radar at approximately 21:40.
At 10:16, the all-clear was given and the fighter jets returned to base. Romania’s military will on Thursday inspect the areas where the targets could have fallen.
Romania scrambled its aircraft overnight on Oct. 19 after a border violation by a “small airborne target” 19 kilometer north of the major Black Seaport of Constanta.
NATO boosted its surveillance of Romanian airspace on Sept. 29 by deploying Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.
