“The Romanian Army has the ability to fully monitor the Romanian airspace, from a certain altitude upwards”, and the drone that crashed in the municipality of Galați flew at low altitude, says Radu Miruță, after the incident with the Russian drone in the Traian Barrier area.
The drone that fell in Galati, during a Russian attack in the area of the Ukrainian city of Reni, has an explosive charge, and the authorities have evacuated over 200 locals from the area. The fragments will be retrieved and taken to a safe area to be detonated, according to the IGSU.
The point where the Russian drone crashed in Galati, hitting an electricity pole and an outbuilding in a yard, is 14 kilometers from the nearest Ukrainian border.
A Geran 2 drone, new model
The Minister of Defense revealed the type of drone and explained why the army pilots did not intercept it.
“According to the engine and characteristics, it is a Geran 2 drone, a new model, manufactured in Russia, which flew at low altitude for about 4 minutes, at a distance of 15 km, in the national airspace,” the Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, said in a message posted on his Facebook page.
According to the minister, the Romanian Army “has the ability to fully monitor the Romanian airspace, from a certain altitude upwards”.
“For the flight of small objects, at very low altitudes, in relief areas that limit radar capabilities, “mobile”, local, “all-seeing” radar solutions are developed and integrated into the national monitoring system. But yes… their number is limited and military specialists concentrate them where the risks are higher. From the evolution of the Russian attacks in Ukraine close to the Romanian border, so far there have been no indications of such an evolution in the area where the drone fragments were found last night”, explained the Minister of Defense.
Also, Radu Miruţă conveyed that the Defense General Staff is analyzing the rearrangement of monitoring and defense devices in the border area with Ukraine.
“Every month, MApN develops new solutions, either through the acquisition of capabilities or through the different replanning and integration of existing capabilities. Thus, the Romanian Army soldiers are constantly covering risks that were previously unaddressed. After last night's incident, the Defense General Staff is analyzing the rearrangement of monitoring and defense devices in the border area with Ukraine,” Radu Miruță also said.
The Minister of Defense also said that it is important that things “be understood correctly”.
“No army in the world can intercept drone debris resulting from massive attacks, carried out in any relief conditions, at low altitudes,” Miruță also claimed.
“If the anti-aircraft defense capabilities thought up and included in the SAFE program were in the inventory of the Romanian Army yesterday, even in the specific scenario of the flight through a certain relief area, at low altitude, from today to night, most likely the Russian drone would have been observed and intercepted”, concluded the Minister of Defense.
MApN: The drone flew over Lake Brateş, at low altitude
MApN returned on Saturday afternoon with clarifications in the case of the drone that fell in Galati, stating that a Russian drone flew at a low altitude, above Lake Brateş and hit a workshop in a household and an electricity pole.
The military also stated that the pilots were authorized to engage the target, but it remained over Ukrainian territory at all times.
“The ground-based air defense systems were put into firing position. The aircraft detected an intermittent radar signal in the Ukrainian airspace, over the town of Reni, for less than 1 minute. The pilots had authorization to engage the target, but it was permanently over Ukrainian territory, so it could not be fired at,” said the MApN.
Ground radars tracked a number of 15 drones in Ukrainian airspace, which went into dives in the area of the town of Reni, where they were lost from radar, after which explosions were reported on Ukrainian territory.
“One of the drones continued to fly at a low altitude over Lake Brateș and hit a workshop in a household and an electricity pole on the public domain,” MApN also transmitted.
