The Spanish Air and Space Army soldiers deployed at the MK base in Romania are getting used to the emergency alerts caused by the entry of Russian drones into allied territory. They have no choice, as the threats, called 'Alpha Scramble', are becoming more frequent, in a maneuver by Putin to gauge NATO's response. This morning, two fighter jets had to be deployed to pursue a new unmanned object.
The Spanish F-18 fighter jets from Wing 12 of the EA on duty this Wednesday started the night shift with a Tango Scramble training exercise in which two of them took to the Romanian skies for two hours to practice deterrent maneuvers and some exercises. Once back on the ground, the pilots went to rest when, in the early hours, the alarms went off. This time it was real. According to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, at 4:41 Romanian time (3:41 on the Peninsula), an RO-Alert was activated after the Defense Ministry's radar surveillance system detected "a group of aerial targets operating north of the town of Chilia Veche, in Ukrainian territory, near the border with Romania."
Faced with this threat, the National Military Command Center notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations about the implementation of measures to alert the population in the northern district of Tulcea, and at 04:41 an RO-Alert message was transmitted.
Simultaneously, two F-18 aircraft from the Spanish Air and Space Forces, serving in the Reinforced Air Police Mission, took off from the Mihail Koglniceanu Air Base 57 to monitor the situation. The air alert ceased at 5:44.
The Romanian Ministry of Defense confirmed in a message in X what happened, stating that it all occurred "north of the town of Chilia Veche, in Ukrainian territory, near the border with Romania. No incursions into national airspace have been reported."
In mid-July, a contingent of around 190 EAE soldiers with 7 F-18 fighter jets and an A400M was deployed to the mentioned base, to which three NH-90 helicopters will be added in October. Since their arrival, they have noticed an increase in real alerts, reaching the peak of tension on August 16, when two Spanish fighter jets shot down a Russian drone for the first time in NATO territory. Throughout August, they faced 15 alpha scrambles, and the incident in the early hours of this Thursday was the fourth so far in September.