Hello and welcome to the details of French jets join Nato drills in Romania to bolster defence and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Two Dassault Rafale fighter jets take off for a mission from Fetesti Air Base, in the commune Borcea, near the town of Fetesti, Romania October 19, 2023. — AFP pic
FETESTI (Romania), Oct 27 — French fighter jets taxied alongside the Romanian Air Force after thundering through the sky above the Fetesti air base, as Nato bolsters its military presence in member country Romania, bordering Ukraine.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Nato has stepped up its efforts to boost the alliance’s southeastern flank defences by sending additional battlegroups to the region.
Nato has also intensified its joint drills along the defence bloc’s wider eastern flank — which encompasses eight member countries — spanning from Estonia and Latvia bordering Russia in the east to Romania and Bulgaria on the Black Sea.
Advertisement
The most recent joint exercise in the region — held between October 16 to 20 — for the first time brought together French and Romanian airmen and their planes.
Despite flying different combat jets, “we work like the French, we understand each other perfectly,” said Romanian Lieutenant Colonel and pilot Lucian Tatulea.
About 30 French pilots together with three Rafale jets travelled to Romania in a bid to improve “interoperability” — the ability to work together — and train less predictable “agile” deployments.
Advertisement
As lead nation for the alliance’s “Mission Aigle” deployed to Romania, France acts as the point of contact between Bucharest and other allies, who seek to send troops to Ukraine’s neighbouring country.
Romania currently hosts more than 5,000 foreign troops, the largest contingent anywhere in Nato’s southeastern region.
About 1,350 troops are from France and mostly belong to the French ground forces, who are part of a multinational batallion that includes 300 soldiers from Belgium and Luxembourg.
Stationed at the Cincu military base in central Romania, the French-led battalion also boasts 13 Leclerc tanks and several Caesar howitzers.
A detachment of 100 French pilots are also stationed at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base to protect the nearby strategic Black Sea port of Constanta against potential Russian attacks.
Air defence
A Nato member since 2004, Romania has vowed to increase its defence spending to 2.5 per cent of its 2023 gross domestic product, up from two per cent earlier.
In recent months, Fetesti air base has seen several renovations and the construction of new facilities, including hangars housing Romania’s fleet of second-hand US-made F-16 fighter jets acquired from Portugal.
About 100 kilometres away on the Capu Midia training grounds, a French medium-range anti-aircraft system known as Mamba has been installed to help local troops with monitoring Russian activities.
The missile battery — which is the only active system deployed by France abroad—is there to safeguard the vital port of Constanta, through which the majority of Ukrainian grain exports passes.
Around 400 kilometres as the crow flies from the Crimean Peninsula, the Mamba system has signalled “several alert levels” since it was set up in May 2022, said Major Gilles, head of the French detachment, who did not provide his full name due to security concerns.
Comprising a 360-degree radar and two launchers armed with 16 missiles, the Mamba system covers a 100-kilometre radius against various airborne threats and “operates 24/7”, he said.
In addition, French-made Ground Master 200 (GM200) radar systems are capable of surveilling a radius of up to 250 kilometres.
Since exiting a deal allowing safe grain shipments via the Black Sea, Moscow has ramped up strikes on Ukraine’s southern regions near the Romanian border.
Following the discoveries of several drone debris, Nato and Romanian officials have condemned the attacks, but said the country had not been intentionally targeted.
Yet the discoveries have led to the construction of air-raid shelters in the eastern Romanian village of Plauru. — AFP
These were the details of the news French jets join Nato drills in Romania to bolster defence for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
