Spanish F-18s scrambled as drone crashes on Romania-Ukraine border

Published Aug 20, 04:03 PM UTC

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Early Thursday morning, an uncrewed aerial system (UAS) entered Romanian airspace and crashed in an uninhabited area of Tulcea county, near the border with Ukraine. The Romanian Defence Ministry reported that military radar detected aerial targets north of Tulcea at 02:23 local time. Two Spanish Air Force F-18 fighter jets and a Romanian IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter were deployed to monitor the situation. At 03:21, one drone breached Romanian airspace approximately 13km east of Galați, and within three minutes, the helicopter crew confirmed it had crashed about 4km northeast of Grindu. The crash caused a small fire that extinguished itself, with no injuries or material damage. Authorities issued a public alert. This incident follows a similar event on 16 August, when a Spanish F-18 shot down a drone near the Ukrainian and Moldovan borders. The recurring drone incursions have raised security concerns among NATO members neighboring Ukraine.

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Airforce TechnologyWestern

Original headline: Spanish F-18s respond to UAS crash on Romania-Ukraine border

Original language: EN-US

People and interests

Romania Ukraine NATO