NATO Fighter Jet Shoots Down Drone Over Romania Near Galati
Romania's Defence Ministry said a Spanish F-18 on NATO duties downed a drone that entered Romanian airspace from Moldova on 16 August 2026.
This is a developing story. Details reported early are provisional and are frequently revised. Where sources disagree, both readings are given.
We last searched for new coverage of this at Aug 18, 2026, 6:37 a.m. ET — checked 3h ago.
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Reference data
From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.
- Terrain elevation
- 75 ft
- Nearest aerodrome
- 7.4 miles NE of Aerial Club Vădeni (RO-0016)
Sources
Revision history
- Version 317 Aug 2026, 17:16current
Attributed the 05:01 a.m. time and the 24 km detection detail to both albawaba outlets and led with the better-supported time; tightened the NATO spokesperson attribution.
- Version 217 Aug 2026, 13:49
Rebuilt the paragraph containing the NATO attribution so the speaker is introduced by name and role in his own clause ("Marty O'Donnell, who serves as a spokesperson for NATO") before any statement is attributed to him, and labelled the second statement as coming from "the same NATO spokesperson." No facts added, removed or altered; the timing conflict remains reported as a sourced range naming both outlets, and the figures 05:01 a.m. and 24 km are printed exactly as given.
- Version 117 Aug 2026, 13:26
First published.
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