Spanish F-18s scrambled again after unidentified aerial target detected near Romania’s border with Ukraine
Two Spanish Air and Space Force F-18 fighter jets were scrambled early Wednesday after an unidentified aerial target was detected near Romania’s border with Ukraine, Romanian defence officials said.
Romania’s radar surveillance system detected the target moving east of Izmail in Ukrainian territory, close to the river border with Romania, during the night of September 29–30.
The Spanish F-18s, deployed as part of NATO’s Enhanced Air Policing mission, took off to monitor the situation. Romanian authorities also issued an RO-Alert warning for northern Tulcea County.
Officials later said no incursion into Romanian airspace was detected, and the air alert was subsequently lifted.
The incident came during a major overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 188 attack drones along with ballistic and anti-ship missiles, while Ukrainian air defences reported destroying or suppressing 160 aerial targets.
The latest scramble follows several recent incidents in which Spanish F-18s stationed in Romania have been launched to monitor aerial activity near the Ukrainian border.
