Spanish F-18 Intercepts and Shoots Down Drone Over Romania After Airspace Breach from Moldova

BUCHAREST — A Spanish F-18 fighter jet operating on a NATO air defense mission intercepted and shot down an unidentified drone early Sunday morning after it crossed from neighboring Moldova into Romanian airspace.

The incident, which occurred just after dawn at 5:01 a.m. local time, marks the fourth time this year that unmanned aircraft have been brought down over Romanian territory as the fallout from the ongoing war in Ukraine increasingly strains the alliance's eastern flank.

According to Romania’s Ministry of Defense, national surveillance systems first detected the aerial target at 4:44 a.m. roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the southeastern city of Galați. The drone had crossed the border directly from Moldovan airspace.

Two Spanish F-18 fighter jets—deployed on preventive air-policing duties from the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base—scrambled to establish radar contact. Operating under the coordination of NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre in Torrejón, Spain, the crew received formal authorization to engage before successfully neutralizing the target.

Military authorities confirmed that the drone's wreckage fell safely into an unpopulated rural zone between the villages of Băleni and Cudalbi in Galați County. No casualties or property damage were reported on the ground.

NATO officials have increasingly voiced concern over repeated airspace violations along the alliance's eastern borders, pointing to the persistent spillover of stray drones and electronic warfare tactics linked to the conflict in neighboring Ukraine.

Spain’s Ministry of Defense praised the deployment on social media, commending the air force for displaying "outstanding professionalism in the defence of European airspace". Romanian and allied defense officials have stepped up monitoring and defensive readiness across the Black Sea region as investigations into the origin and flight path of the downed aircraft continue.