NATO expands Romania’s Mihai Cogarniceanu air base

Six RAF Eurofighter Typhoons were parked on the taxiway, their two engines roaring, while ground crews scurried about putting the finishing touches before takeoff.

In the distance, in the summer mist, a cloud of dust rose from the construction site of the second runway, 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) long next to the first runway. The hot north wind blew through the old and new hangars.

The Mihai Kogalniceanu (MK) air base is named after the nearby village, which was named after a liberal politician from the 19th century.

Now, it is unlikely to become the largest NATO base in Europe, even bigger than Ramstein in Germany.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that NATO is invading Russia’s European flank to justify its war in Ukraine. In response to his invasion, more pieces moved forward on the NATO chessboard.

Base MK will soon host a squadron of Romanian F-16s recently purchased from Norway as well as MQ-9 Reaper drones, as well as a military city where NATO army, air force and naval personnel from 32 countries will rotate.

The latest arrivals were the Finns. The base is just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Black Sea coast, and the fighter jets are 300 kilometers from Odessa and 400 kilometers from Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.

This was RAF pilot Lieutenant Charlie Tagg’s third and final tour of duty here.

“There’s a greater U.S. presence here, more infrastructure, accommodation, personnel and equipment.”

He said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed the areas he flew over and the strategic dynamics of the mission. In 2021, a NATO fighter pilot flew over the international waters of the Black Sea during his final tour. But now they are sticking to the 12 nautical miles area above the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria “to avoid misunderstandings and escalation of the situation with Russia.”

“Previously we were here to deter any Russian aggression. Now it’s more about reassuring other NATO countries like Romania that we are here and we are willing to defend.

He said there had been no calls to intercept Russian aircraft since his arrival, despite previous interception missions over the Baltic Sea.

“They were just bumbling through – it’s not against any international law, they have the right to do that. But we would put an aircraft next to the enemy aircraft. From a posture perspective, it showed the Russians… that we were very Active. We fly with armed aircraft, so it sends a clear message.

“It also provides us with valuable intelligence, we are recording the serial numbers of the aircraft and what weapons those aircraft are carrying, so it also feeds into the overall intelligence picture.”

Late at night, in the British compound at the MK base, he watched the war in neighboring Ukraine through the radar screen.

“We can see the Shahd drone coming into Odessa. The heat source on the ground, where the weapon impacted, feeds the radar that tracks the aircraft, both friendly aircraft and not-so-friendly aircraft. So this is Quite surreal.

While NATO warplanes avoided unnecessary conflict with Russia, there were two known incidents over the Black Sea. In September 2022, a Russian pilot misunderstood an order from the ground control center, Almost shot down A British intelligence gathering aircraft with a crew of up to 30 people.

In March 2023, an American MQ-9 Reaper drone took off from Romania deliberately put down It was conducted by a Russian SU-27 Flanker jet over international waters.

Despite this, daily life at the MK base is largely peaceful. Seagulls and crows were noisily picking at a row of cherry trees in front of base commander Nikolay Cretu’s office building. Scott Delay of the U.S. Army Black Sea Support Division works in his semi-permanent office to develop logistics plans for the 1,840 U.S. military personnel currently supported by the base.

“We try to make it feel like home for them while they’re here. So it’s really no different than any community. There’s just a fence around it.

One thing that American soldiers are having trouble adjusting to is that in Romania, delivery times for items ordered online can take weeks, not hours, he said.

Before I left the base, British pilot Charlie Tagg gave me a tour of his aircraft. Up close, the typhoon looks powerful but a bit aged. But he explained that weapons are being upgraded all the time. It can now throw three different types of bombs.

“We are installing new radars that will allow us to detect and respond to threats from further afield.”