Spanish F/A-18 downs drone over Romania after it crossed from Moldova

Romania's Ministry of National Defense said a Spanish F/A-18 Hornet shot down a drone over the southeastern part of the country in the early hours of August 16, 2026. It was the fourth drone destroyed over Romanian territory this year.

According to the ministry, radar systems detected the object at 04:44 local time, about 24 kilometers north of Galati, entering from the direction of Moldova. An F/A-18 already flying an air policing patrol out of the 57th Air Base at Mihail Kogalniceanu picked it up and was cleared to engage, destroying the target at 05:01. Officials pointed to a likely debris field between the villages of Baleni and Cudalbi, an area they described as unpopulated, and reported no injuries or damage. The drone's type and operator remain unidentified.

The drone did not cross directly from Ukraine, despite Romania's long shared border with that country. It instead passed through Moldova, a non-NATO state that has no fighter jets of its own and no role in allied air policing. Moldovan authorities have reported repeated airspace violations this month. These include an explosion near Crocmaz on August 9 that prompted Chisinau to recall its ambassador from Moscow, and a separate track detected the following night that officials said resembled a Geran-3, a jet-powered variant of the Shahed drone Russia has used in strikes on Odesa.

The Spanish detachment involved had only recently taken over Romania's air policing mission. It replaced Italian and British units in a handover on July 31. The unit operates seven F/A-18M Hornets under the deployment.