Romania begins project to expand air base near Ukraine border

Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr announced the move on June 11 during a ceremony at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, located less than 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The project to expand the military base, which has housed US troops and forces since 1999, was approved before Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022.

Romanian Air Force Colonel Nicolae Cretu, the base commander, said the reason the NATO member country decided to expand its capabilities was in the context of tensions in Georgia in 2008 and then Crimea in 2014.

“Our plans have been approved since 2018 for this,” Cretu told Defense News during the NATO-led Ramstein Legacy exercise held here.

The project will involve, in part, the construction of a new runway, a watchtower and additional hangars to protect existing and soon-to-be-acquired military assets. The official estimated the cost of the expansion at 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion).

US Apache attack helicopters during a demonstration exercise at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, March 31, 2023. Photo: Balkan Insight

Romania, an EU and NATO member state, is undertaking a number of procurement programs, mainly focusing on short- and very short-range air defense systems, expected to cost up to $2.1 billion.

Last year, it also received two more US-made Patriot batteries, bringing its total to four. Bucharest is participating in the joint procurement of up to 1,000 Patriot PAC-2 GEM-T missiles under the German-led European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI).

The location of the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, near the Black Sea port city of Constanta, has proven highly strategic in recent years, both for Romania and its NATO allies. For example, Romanian officers cite the base’s value during the Iraq war, as it was used by the allies “to deploy forces outside their territory and over long distances.”

Romanian media has reported on the expansion of this base, according to which, after the expansion, Kogălniceanu base will have a similar scale to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, but there has been no confirmation on this issue from Romanian officials.

With direct access to the Black Sea and close proximity to Russian territory, the air base has hosted several NATO-run Enhanced Air Policing missions, including this year's edition, which welcomed the first deployment of Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets.

News of the expansion of the Kogălniceanu base, which is said to be the largest NATO military base in Europe, emerged in March this year, drawing a sharp response from Moscow, with Russian Senator Andrei Klimov warning that the larger and closer the “anti-Russian” military base is to the Russian border, the “more likely it is to become one of the first targets for retaliatory strikes . ”

Minh Duc (According to Defense News)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/romania-bat-dau-du-an-mo-rong-can-cu-khong-quan-gan-bien-gioi-ukraine-204668439.htm