Bucharest (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Romania’s defence ministry announced it will purchase French Mistral air defence systems for over €626 million, as part of a joint procurement agreement with multiple other European Union countries.
The defence deal comes as Romania has repeatedly witnessed violations of its airspace, including drone fragments falling onto its territory, following Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2022.
How is Romania investing heavily in defence systems now?
The ministry said it reached an agreement with the French defense ministry on Tuesday to buy 934 missiles, training, a simulator, and logistics in addition to 231 Mistral man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), which are manufactured by MBDA.
When the equipment would be delivered was not mentioned in the statement. The acquisition plan was initially approved by Romanian lawmakers in 2022.
As reported by Reuters, F-16 fighter jets, Patriot systems, Lockheed Martin’s HIMARS rocket launchers, short-range South Korean surface-to-air Chiron missiles, and German anti-aircraft Gepard guns are currently part of Romania’s air defenses.
Additionally, under a new European Union defense funding mechanism, the nation hopes to collaborate with Ukraine to develop drones. According to Romanian and American defense officials, Romania is also nearing the end of deploying the new Merops anti-drone system that was provided by the United States.
How are Russian drone incursions increasing across Europe’s airspace?
September 2025 marked the start of Russian drone and fighter jet incursions into European territory. Poland was the site of the first significant incident. Twenty or so Russian drones entered Polish airspace between September 9 and 10. In response, a number of them were intercepted and shot down by NATO aircraft.
More Russian airspace violations in other nations, such as Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Romania, quickly followed this incident.
How serious are Russian drone incursions into Romania’s airspace?
Since Russia started attacking Kyiv’s ports across the Danube, Romania, an EU and NATO member state that shares a 650-kilometer land border with Ukraine, has frequently experienced drones breaching its airspace and fragments falling onto its territory.
A few days ago, Romania scrambled fighter jets to pursue drones that had entered its territory close to the Ukrainian border. The defense ministry disclosed that one of the drones was still traveling farther into the airspace.
Two Eurofighters from German air-policing missions in Romania were initially sent to track a drone in the southeast county of Tulcea before it re-entered Ukraine, according to Romania’s defense ministry. The Ukrainian Air Force had previously reported that Russian drones may have entered Romania.
Later, the army dispatched two Romanian F-16 fighter jets after radar detected a second airspace breach in the county of Galati. The ministry claimed that the plane pursued it as it headed inland toward the county of Vrancea. Residents were urged to seek shelter in all three counties.
