Romanian Air Force F-16s shoot down two drones in country’s airspace

Romanian Air Force F-16 fighter jets shot down two drones in Romanian airspace on October 17, the country’s Ministry of National Defence said.

Two Romanian Air Force F-16 aircraft, conducting air policing missions, were scrambled from the 86th Air Base Borcea at 5.43pm on October 17, after radar surveillance systems detected a group of aerial targets flying approximately 120km east of Snake Island, heading southwest, the ministry said.

At 5.59pm, the first target entered Romanian airspace and was shot down by one of the F-16 aircraft at 6.01pm.

A second target entered Romanian airspace at 6.01pm and was shot down by the other F-16 aircraft at 6.05pm.

Both aerial targets were identified as drones and were shot down over Romanian territorial waters, the ministry said.