Air Force
Black Sea: a French Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft watches Romania’s EEZ from the Mihail Kogălniceanu base
Romania’s defence ministry said on October 27 that a French Navy Atlantique 2 is based at Mihail Kogălniceanu from October 18 to November 6 to detect threats to shipping, after a series of drone attacks on merchant ships.
A French Navy Atlantique 2 has been flying since mid-October over the western Black Sea, with the mission of detecting threats to shipping off Romania. Romania’s Ministry of National Defence (MApN) announced on Tuesday, October 27 that the maritime patrol aircraft is stationed at the 57th Air Base “Captain Constantin Cantacuzino” at Mihail Kogălniceanu, near Constanța, from October 18 to November 6.
The deployment was requested by Bucharest, citing a deterioration of security in the region. The aircraft was sent by the French command for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (CECMED). Its flights are planned with the support of the “Rear Admiral Ioan Georgescu” Naval Forces Command and in cooperation with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC). The goal is to detect risks to ships early and better protect critical infrastructure in Romania’s EEZ.
The Romanian ministry places the mission within the deterrence operations conducted under NATO’s auspices. It also links it to allied cooperation and interoperability, to freedom of navigation and to saving lives at sea. In its X post the MApN published photographs of the French aircraft at the base, with Romanian and French military personnel holding the flags of the two countries.
The Atlantique 2’s presence also offers an opportunity for joint training. Romanian naval personnel can board the aircraft on flights over the Black Sea, and joint training activities and exchange of information with Romanian warships at sea are also planned. At the same time the Romanian Navy has stepped up patrols with ships, IAR-330 Puma Naval helicopters and autonomous unmanned systems. The “Captain Alexandru Cătuneanu” Naval Hydrographic Directorate continuously issues notices to mariners about the dangers and recommended routes.
The French deployment follows a series of drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria and Romania, the most recent being the sinking of the merchant ship Khoryv near Constanța. They were preceded by strikes on two ships off Bulgaria, and by the downing of two drones by Romanian F-16s, as we reported in Romanian F-16s shoot down two jet-powered drones over the Black Sea. On October 15 the French foreign ministry condemned the attacks as an escalation and a violation of international law, again called for a moratorium on strikes in the Black Sea and expressed its solidarity with Romania and Bulgaria.
The North Atlantic Council met on Black Sea security on October 20. The Alliance then announced that it would send additional assets to the region, including for surveillance, reconnaissance and forensic investigation, and that it has already reinforced its eastern flank with counter-drone systems. Ukraine’s Militarnyi quotes French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, speaking in Varna on October 24, as saying that the Atlantique 2 operates within NATO missions and took part in the rescues after the attacks. The same outlet reports that a US P-8A Poseidon that came from Sigonella in Sicily is also patrolling in the western Black Sea, near the Bulgarian coast.