Romania scrambles fighter jets over drones spotted 20km east of Ukraine’s Snake Island

Two Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets stationed at the 57th Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, currently conducting Air Policing Service, scrambled on July 7 after a group of drones were spotted about 20km east of Snake Island, Ukraine, Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said.

The radar surveillance system of the ministry detected the group of aerial targets at 9.52am, the ministry said.

The Italian fighter aircraft scrambled at 10.25am to monitor the situation.  

The National Military Command Centre (core) notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations with regard to the establishment of public alert measures for the population in the northern part of Tulcea County and a RO-Alert message was issued at 10.29am, the ministry said.

No unauthorised incursions into the national airspace or instances of aerial vehicles impacting the ground have been reported, the statement said.

The air alert ceased at 11.05am

(Archive photo: Clemens Vasters, via Wikimedia Commons)