A Romanian F-16 fighter jet destroyed a maritime drone near the Neptun Deep offshore gas platform in the Black Sea on Thursday, August 20, interim defense minister Radu Miruță announced. The operation was ordered to protect several hundred people working at the site and secure the critical infrastructure, he said.

According to minister Miruțǎ, the Coast Guard announced that the maritime drone was detected several hundred meters from work underway at Neptun Deep, in Romania’s exclusive economic zone, around 80 miles east of Constanța. The Defense Ministry later added that the drone was drifting when it was first reported by a commercial vessel at around 6:28 a.m.

“A maritime drone was destroyed by the Romanian Army using the onboard cannon of a Romanian F-16 aircraft a few moments ago, in the area of the Neptun Deep platform in the Black Sea,” Radu Miruță wrote on Facebook on Thursday around noon.

A command cell was established at the Ministry of National Defense following the discovery. The ministry requested that NATO transfer operational command of the response to the Romanian military, according to the interim minister.

“Following the analyses carried out and in coordination with the president of Romania, the decision was made to destroy the drone in order to protect the lives of the several hundred people working on the platform and secure the critical infrastructure,” Miruță said.

Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were scrambled with authorization to open fire. The maritime drone was subsequently destroyed without incident.

“The drone was destroyed safely,” the interim defense minister announced.

According to him, the Romanian authorities contacted Ukraine through a recently established direct communication channel and received official confirmation that the drone was not of Ukrainian origin. 

According to the Defense Ministry, a Coast Guard ship carrying a Romanian Navy explosive ordnance disposal team was sent to the area to conduct further checks, while the operation remained ongoing.

President Nicușor Dan also reacted to the news, saying, "I congratulate the Romanian Armed Forces and the pilots of the two Romanian F-16 fighter jets on the successful mission to destroy the maritime drone near the Neptun Deep platform in the Black Sea. I also congratulate the Coast Guard for promptly reporting the drone’s presence in the area. It was a race-against-time operation in which the highest priority was protecting the lives of those working on the platform and keeping critical infrastructure safe from any potential danger."

"I strongly condemn the intensification of these irresponsible incidents by the Russian Federation. We remain vigilant alongside our NATO allies to defend ourselves and repel such provocations," he added.

This was the first time Romanian aircraft used their onboard cannons and also the first time they engaged a maritime drone, Biziday.ro noted.

The incident came hours after an aerial drone entered Romanian airspace near Galați early on Thursday and crashed in an unpopulated area near Grindu, Tulcea County. Two Spanish F-18 aircraft and a Romanian IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter were deployed during that incident, while residents in the affected area received an RO-Alert warning.

Last week, two Gerbera-type drones were destroyed by divers of the Romanian Army in the exclusive economic zone, approximately 90 nautical miles (around 165 kilometers) from Constanța, in the Neptun Deep exploitation area.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Radu Miruțǎ)