MApN about the crashed drone in Galati: Two F-16 planes and a military helicopter, lifted / The pilots had permission to engage the target, but did not shoot it down
Two F-16 fighter jets were lifted from the Feteşti Base, being supported by an IAR 330 SOCAT helicopter of the Romanian Air Force, the Ministry of National Defense (MApN) reported a short time ago.
“The pilots of the aircraft had authorization to engage the targets for the entire duration of the alert”, said the MApN, in a press release, about the crashed drone on a block in the city of Galați.
MApN announcement
- “During the night of May 28 to 29, the Russian Federation resumed drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, near the river border with Romania.
- One of these drones entered Romania's airspace, being tracked by radars to the southern area of the city of Galați and crashed on the roof of an apartment block, the impact being followed by a fire.
- Specialized teams from the IGSU and other structures from the MAI, from the Romanian Intelligence Service and from the Romanian Police are acting on the spot.
- MApN radars detected drones that were flying near Romania's airspace.
- Two F-16 aircraft in the Air Police combat service took off, at 01.19, from the 86th Air Base in Fetești, being supported by an IAR 330 SOCAT helicopter of the Romanian Air Force.
- Aircraft pilots were authorized to engage targets throughout the alert.
- The National Military Command Center (nucleus) informed the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations about the need to institute measures to alert the population. In this context, RO-Alert messages were sent for Tulcea, Galați and Brăila counties.
- The situation is dynamic and we will return with official information and data as they become available.“
MApN did not specify why the decision was not taken to shoot down the drone that entered the airspace of our country.
A drone crashed on an apartment block in Galati during the night from Thursday to Friday, the impact being followed by an explosion and the outbreak of a fire in an apartment located on the 10th floor. The fire was extinguished in the meantime.
70 people were evacuated or self-evacuated from the block, while two people received medical treatment at the scene.
From the investigations carried out by the SRI on the spot, all the explosive charge of the drone exploded, the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU) later reported.
The authorities issued a RO-ALERT message for the population.
