Air policing in Romania: “With the Eurofighter we can respond at a moment's notice”

Since August 2025, German Eurofighters have supported NATO’s enhanced Air Policing South in Romania, safeguarding the south-eastern flank in a high stakes, 24/7 mission. What is unfolding there?

When the alarm goes off, every second counts: Lieutenant Colonel Tenne puts on his flight suit while German Air Force technicians prepare the Eurofighter. In front of the hangar, Tenne straps into the ejection seat, the canopy locks down, and the ground crew removes the final weapon safety pins. The jet engines fire up and the Eurofighter ascends. The mission is go.

Securing NATO’s eastern flank

Whether it’s a training exercise or the real deal, at the Romanian Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base near the Black Sea this procedure is commonplace. Known as Quick Reaction Alerts (QRA), these missions involve scrambling fighter jets to quickly respond to potential threats in the airspace.

Since August 2025, the German Air Force has been deployed to Romania with five Eurofighters and around 170 personnel.  For the most part, they belong to the 71 Tactical Air Wing “Richthofen”, backed by the special forces of the Air Force Force Protection Regiment “Friesland”. Here, they support NATO’s enhanced Air Policing South (eAPS) in close collaboration with the Romanian Air Force. “Our detachment’s goal is to protect the south-eastern flank of NATO close to the Black Sea,” Lieutenant Colonel Tenne, Chief of Flight Operations, explains (Editor's note: all names have been changed in this article). “We have to make sure that all airspace violations are identified and appropriate action is taken to secure the airspace.”

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO has further strengthened its eastern flank. Not only in Romania, but also in the Baltic States to the north, Eurofighters are stationed to carry out air policing missions, intercepting unauthorised aircraft. For example, Spanish Eurofighters deployed in Lithuania intercepted a fighter jet and a tanker aircraft crossing the EU border. 

Furthermore, an increasing number of drones are challenging NATO airspace. Since the start of the German deployment in Romania, Russian drones have triggered over ten alerts, so-called ‘alpha scrambles’.

Keeping things running

The crews and jets must be able to respond at all times. ‘Readiness’ is key. To this end, the German Air Force detachment conducts daily exercises with the allies on base. "This ensures that our presence in the airspace is well known and that our pilots can handle any potential situation,” Lieutenant Colonel Tenne says.

While the pilots play a pivotal role, many others on the base also contribute to the success of the mission. Nobody knows that better than First Lieutenant Rebecca, Technical Officer in the deployment. "My job is to take care of personnel and material tasks,” she explains. “I ensure that my team of experts has the tools, equipment and the working conditions they need to carry out their highly technical work.”

There is certainly no shortage of things to do. The crew escape team, for example, takes care of the uniforms and equipment that the pilots need in the cockpit, preparing the G-suits and vests for the mission. Meanwhile, the ground crew marshals the jets out of the hangars and works alongside the pilots during their QRA shifts. “We also conduct flight debriefings with the pilots,” First Lieutenant Rebecca says. “We review the mission to understand what we need to do on the ground to send the jet out again.”

The Eurofighter: a mission-critical aircraft

At the centre of the German Air Force's deployment stands a key tool: the Eurofighter, a vital deterrent that strengthens Europe's collective resilience. “Everything here revolves around speed,” says Lieutenant Colonel Tenne. “We have to be on the scene within minutes and the Eurofighter is designed specifically for these high-stakes missions.”

The Eurofighter is optimised for the demands of modern military operations. “As a weapons system, the Eurofighter can be equipped with different sensors and ammunition, making it highly adaptable to the mission requirements,” Lieutenant Colonel Tenne continues. In addition, the aircraft is interoperable with other platforms. “In deployments such as the enhanced Air Policing South, we have to collaborate with various allied aircraft, with which the Eurofighter can connect and interact.”

All about teamwork

In a deployment like this everything revolves around teamwork. Every function, procedure and platform must come together as one. “We must be united in our mission,” First Lieutenant Rebecca concludes. “A good working relationship with the comrades is undoubtedly the most important factor. We formed genuine friendships here - everyone pulls together.” All of this in service of securing NATO’s eastern flank and ensuring our collective security.