Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets on Thursday after a maritime drone was spotted a few hundred metres from the Neptun Deep gas platform in the Black Sea, the third drone incident at the site this month. One jet fired its onboard cannon and hit the target, but the strike did not fully destroy it; a Navy explosive ordnance disposal team that reached the scene finished the job, Interim Defence Minister Radu Miruță said, correcting earlier information about a possible second drone, which he said ground analysis of tracking data ruled out, according to Romania Insider.
A commercial vessel alerted the Coast Guard to the drone around 6:28 a.m., roughly 80 nautical miles east of Constanța in Romania’s exclusive economic zone. Miruță said a ministry command cell requested that NATO-level command authority be transferred to Romanian forces, and the decision to engage was made after consultations with NATO and President Nicușor Dan to protect several hundred platform workers, per AeroTime.
Miruță confirmed the drone was carrying explosives and said Ukraine officially confirmed through a newly established direct channel that it was not of Ukrainian origin, without stating its actual origin. Dan blamed Russia, calling it “an intensification of irresponsible incidents.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it “hybrid warfare” and part of “an escalating campaign of threats” against the EU, EUalive reported.
The incident follows the destruction of two Russian-designed Gerbera-type drones near the same platform on August 11. Neptun Deep, jointly owned by OMV Petrom and Romgaz, is expected to make Romania the EU’s largest gas producer when production begins in 2027.
Moscow had not commented on Thursday’s incident at the time of writing.
