Romanian airspace intruder prompts fighter jet scramble
Four fighter jets were scrambled from air bases in Romania when a small object was detected on radar, having intruded into the country's airspace from over the Black Sea.
"Based on the available data, there is no indication of a possible impact zone on national territory. The forces of the Ministry of National Defense will conduct investigations in the area during the morning," the Romanian Ministry of Defense stated in a communiqué.
Due to the detection of an aerial target, two Spanish F-18 fighter jets were scrambled from the Mihail Kogălniceanu base, followed by two Romanian F-16 aircraft from the Borcea base.
It flew 14 kilometres into the country
"The radar signal indicated the crossing of Romania's land border around 19:00, near the locality of Eforie Nord, later moving toward Topraisar. Air surveillance radars continuously tracked the target’s path, which penetrated the national territory to a maximum depth of 14 km. The fighter jets did not have visual contact with it at any point along its trajectory," the Ministry of Defense reported.
According to the news.ro portal, citizens of several localities in Constanța County on the Black Sea received Ro-Alert notifications about the possibility of objects falling from the air.
Eforie Nord is a Romanian resort on the Black Sea coast.