Two Romanian military jet pilots fly their F16 Falcons during a demo flight following the opening ceremony for the European F-16 Training Center, held at the 86th Air Base 'Lieutenant Aviator Gheorghe Mociornita', in Borcea, Romania, 13 November 2023. The ETFC it is the first European dedicated training facility outside the United States territory that had all the means for training F16 pilots in order to facilitate the interoperability between NATO member countries. According to the project contract, Romanian Defense Ministry put the 86th Air Base at the training hub's disposal, including the tech training facilities and logistic support. The Netherlands already gave four pieces of F16 jet fighters for the training flights, and US company Lockheed Martin comes with the instructors and maintenance. At the EFTC are supposed to get the training the Ukrainian pilots that will handle the F16 that Ukraine will receive from its western allies, according to the NATO decision. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Robert Ghement) The European Union and NATO state, which shares a 650-km (400-mile) border with Ukraine, has had Russian drone fragments fall onto its territory repeatedly over the past year and a half as Moscow attacks Ukrainian port infrastructure.
"The radar signal indicated Romania’s land border was crossed at around 1600 GMT," the ministry said in a statement, adding the drone was first detected heading for Romania over the Black Sea.
Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and two Spanish F-18s which are carrying out air policing missions in the country for the rest of the year. The pilots did not see the drone.
Residents of Constanta county were warned to take cover.
Army personnel will search for a potential crash site on Friday morning, the ministry said.
In early September, Romania and Latvia both had their airspace breached by Russian drones, prompting worries of escalation and defence ministers from NATO's eastern flank collectively called for a robust coordinated response from the alliance to drone airspace breaches.
A Russian drone breached Romania's air space again in late September.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)