Home  /  Newsroom  /  2021  /  Canadian Hornets continue enhanced Air Policing in Romania

RAMSTEIN, Germany - On September 30, NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre at Torrejon, Spain, ordered two Canadian CF-188s Hornets to take off from Constanta, Romania, and identify an aircraft flying close to the Romanian border in international airspace above the Black Sea.

The jets met and identified a Russian fighter aircraft which was not on a flight plan, not in contact with civilian air traffic control nor sending transponder signals, posing a potential risk to civilian airliners. The Russian aircraft never entered Alliance airspace. After successful identification the RCAF pilots returned to Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base.

Such alert scrambles are routine manoeuvres that NATO conducts within the framework of the multinational collective Air Policing mission. The Canadian fighters executed the intercept in a safe and professional manner, thus demonstrating NATO's vigilance and readiness to safeguard the airspace near and above our Allies.

A Royal Canadian Air Force CF-188 Hornet twoship taking off at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base near Constanta on the Black Sea coast for a training mission. 
Archive photo by Avery Philpott.

Until the end of November, the Canadian CF-188s and a 150-strong Air Task Force will be deployed at Constanta on the Black Sea shores to conduct NATO's enhanced Air Policing, patrolling the skies alongside their Romanian colleagues. This is the sixth deployment of the Canadian Armed Forces under NATO and demonstrates Canada's commitment to Alliance security.