Spanish F-18s scrambled in Romania after aerial target detected near Sulina

Two Spanish F-18 fighters took off on 12 November 2026 from Mihail Kogălniceanu 57th Air Base in Romania after military radars detected an aerial target about 28 km north-east of Sulina. The aircraft are carrying out air policing duties. Romania’s Ministry of National Defence announced the response in a statement carried by Armymedia.bg, citing BTA.

Warning to residents lasted about 37 minutes

At 12:35. At 12:35 local and Bulgarian time, a warning was sent through the Ro-Alert system to residents of north-eastern Tulcea County. Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said no incursion into the country’s airspace had been detected. This was the basis for lifting the alert at around 13:12.

About 37 minutes elapsed between the warning and the lifting of the alert. This was the duration of the civilian warning, not the fighters’ flight. The times of the initial detection and take-off were not given, so the military response time cannot be calculated from the statement.

What is known about the aerial target

The Romanian authorities initiated a military response and warned residents after detecting a target near the border. The F-18s taking off does not in itself mean there was an interception, aerial combat or use of weapons. Nor does the absence of a recorded incursion prove that the aircraft deterred the target or changed its course.

The ministry does not specify the target’s type or affiliation, or whether the pilots established visual contact with it. There is no basis for describing it as Russian, Ukrainian or unmanned solely because of where it was detected.