Romanian F-16 downs drone over Buzău county; Defense Minister to hold press conference

A drone intruding into Romanian airspace met its end on Friday, shot down by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet over a sparsely populated agricultural zone in Buzău county. The incident prompted a press conference announcement from the Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The drone was first detected by radar at 9:39 AM, entering national airspace approximately 20 kilometers east of Sulina. It proceeded on a path crossing Sulina, Brăila, and Fetești before heading towards Buzău. Romanian authorities issued RO-Alert warnings to the public in counties along the drone's projected path.

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An F-16 aircraft of the Romanian Air Force from the 86th Air Base at Fetești, which was on a mission to monitor and track a drone that entered national airspace, engaged the aerial target with a missile and shot it down over a non-populated area, near the locality of Padina, Buzău county.

Two Italian Eurofighter Typhoons and two Romanian F-16s were scrambled to monitor the situation. Ultimately, a Romanian F-16 engaged the drone with a missile over a non-populated area near Padina, Buzău, bringing it down around 11:00 AM. The Ministry of Defense confirmed the drone's destruction, emphasizing it occurred over an uninhabited region.

Local officials, including the Prefect of Buzău, Leonard Dimian, reported no immediate signs of material damage or casualties. The drone reportedly fell in an agricultural area between the villages of Padina and Pogoanele. Authorities were dispatched to the scene to assess any potential damage.

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From the information I have from ISU, the drone was shot down over Buzău county and fell somewhere between the localities of Padina and Pogoanele. It is a completely uninhabited agricultural area.