Romania spent about €1.5m to down three Russian drones

The Romanian armed forces spent approximately €1.5 million over the three days in which three Russian drones were shot down in Romanian airspace.

Source: European Pravda, citing Digi24

Details: Most of the expenditure was on the missiles, which were fired from F-16 fighter jets.

F-16s use AIM-9X missiles, which cost around US$400,000 each.

Three missiles were launched to destroy the three drones, bringing the total cost of the missiles alone to about US$1.2 million.

Additional expenses, including flight hours and aircraft maintenance, pushed the overall cost of the three operations to an estimated €1.5 million.

Romania is now looking for cheaper ways to intercept drones that violate its airspace.

According to Digi24, one option would be to use helicopters. Drones could be shot down with onboard machine guns, significantly reducing costs.

Digi24 also notes that Romania is due to receive two counter-drone systems next year. One is being developed by an Israeli company, while the other will be produced through cooperation between Romania and Ukraine.

Background:

• On Sunday 26 July, Romanian President Nicușor Dan announced that another drone had been shot down over Romanian territory – the third such incident in three days.
• Dan also mentioned that an investigation by the General Prosecutor's Office has concluded that the drone downed on Friday 25 July was a Shahed – a type of drone used by Russia in its war against Ukraine.
• The Romanian Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador after Romanian fighter jets shot down the third drone to violate the country's airspace in as many days.

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