Overview
- Romania plans to put the U.S.-made Merops interceptor into service within days after final trials at Capu Midia that the defence minister called partially successful when an interceptor swerved and missed its target.
- Authorities recovered drone fragments in Galati after a Russian attack on Ukraine, damaging an electricity pole and a small household annex but causing no injuries in the first reported property damage from debris.
- The defence ministry said two British Eurofighter Typhoons on an air-policing mission in Romania scrambled to monitor the overnight strikes and emergency alerts told residents in nearby Tulcea county to take cover.
- Merops combines a ground control base and launchers with Surveyor drones that use onboard AI and radar to find and intercept other drones, and NATO sources say versions are already fielded in Ukraine and Poland.
- Romania and NATO have tested interceptors, radars, sensors and jammers over two weeks to strengthen a layered shield along the Danube, where communities face repeated spillover despite existing F-16, Patriot, HIMARS, Chiron and Gepard systems.