Russian drone flew over 350 km across Romania, failed to be shot down on first attempt
Kyiv • UNN
A Russian drone violated Romania's airspace on July 24, flying over 350 km. It was shot down by a Romanian F-16 fighter after being intercepted by four aircraft.
A Russian long-range drone that violated Romania's airspace on July 24 flew over 350 km along a complex route, and four fighter jets were scrambled to intercept it. This was reported by Defense Express, citing Defense Romania, writes UNN.
Details
According to the publication, the drone was detected near Sulina at 09:39 local time, and at 11:02 it was shot down by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet.
As Defense Express notes, the drone flew from the Sulina area to Brăila, then changed course toward Fetești, and later turned northwest, where it was destroyed near the city of Buzău.
According to the publication's assessment, during 1 hour and 22 minutes of flight, the drone covered over 350 km, which corresponds to an average speed of over 260 km/h.
This significantly exceeds the cruising speed of Shahed or Geran-2 type drones, so, as Defense Express suggests, it was likely a jet-powered drone of the Geran-3 or Geran-4 type. At the same time, the Romanian side has not yet officially named the type of drone.
Four fighter jets were scrambled for interception
According to Defense Romania, initially two Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets of the Italian Air Force, which are on duty as part of the NATO mission at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, took off for interception. However, they were unable to destroy the target.
Later, two Romanian F-16s were scrambled from the air base in Fetești. One of them shot down the drone a few minutes after takeoff.
Defense Express recalls that the last time Russian drones violated Romania's airspace was on May 29, when, according to the publication, one of the drones hit a residential building in the city of Galați.
NATO scrambled four fighters to intercept a drone over Romania24.07.26, 19:18 • 10072 views