Reuters. On a visit to U.S. troops at Romania's Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, the commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, said a new capability they have been testing to shoot down drones will be deployed to Romania.
"We have tested and it is in the final stages of being employed," General Christopher Donahue said. "Romanian soldiers and other alliance soldiers have been trained on this capability and I know you're going to see this capability in the (Danube) Delta very soon."
On Tuesday Romanian and German NATO fighter jets were scrambled from the same base near Romania's border with Ukraine, to respond to a drone incursion that penetrated deeper than ever into Romanian airspace, in what Bucharest called "a Russian provocation".
The Romanian Defense Ministry said drone fragments without an explosive charge were later found on Romanian territory.
Russian drones had struck Ukrainian ports overnight near the border with Romania, which lies across the Danube River.
Tuesday's breach was the 13th that Romania has reported into its airspace since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In addition to being the deepest, it was also the first to take place during daylight, rather than at night.
Romania has legislation in place enabling it to shoot down drones during peacetime if lives or property are at risk, but has not yet made full use of it.
Tensions have mounted along Europe's eastern flank in recent months after suspected Russian drones breached the airspace of several NATO states.
The Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base in Romania is currently a Romanian Air Force installation, but it hosts a significant U.S. military presence and is being transformed into the largest NATO military base in Europe.
