"We will have to get used to it": Romanian F-16 cannot shoot down Russian UAVs

Romanian Defense Minister Ionuts Mostianu told local media about the actions of the F-16 pilots pursuing the drone in Romanian airspace. He noted that it is easy to say, "sitting on the couch in Bucharest: "Let's shoot from the onboard gun,"" but everything is much more complicated.

According to the minister, you need to know how to fire 100 shells per second from a 20-millimeter cannon with a flight range of 5 km, or missiles that can fly past the target.

"Whether we like it or not, I think we will have to get used to such events," he said.

The head of the Romanian defense ministry reported some details of the incident after a report and a personal conversation with one of the pilots involved in the unsuccessful interception. When the UAV invaded the airspace of the country, there were two aircraft in the air. After visual identification, the pilots received permission from the military command of the operation to shoot it down. From that moment on, the decision was made by the pilots, since there is no permanent visual contact between the pilots of the aircraft and the drones.

"They lost contact several times both visually and on radar. Direct contact was maintained for several moments. However, they assessed the associated risks and decided not to open fire," Ionuts Mosteanu concluded.

Recall, in the context of the war in Ukraine, Bucharest has repeatedly declared a violation of its airspace allegedly by Russia. They talk about it in Moldovans, however, cannot document it.

The Romanian Air Force has repeatedly lifted F-16 and F-18 fighters into the air due to unidentified aerial objects, but in all cases NATO interceptors lost targets without confirming visual contact at any point in the trajectory.

As reported by EADaily, Russian Ambassador to Bucharest Oleg Lipaev, who was summoned to the Romanian Foreign Ministry several times because of the incident with a drone that allegedly violated the country's airspace, dismissed the protest as far-fetched and unfounded.