CONSTANTA, Romania — The Romanian government has begun a multibillion-euro expansion and modernization project at certainly one of its air bases near Ukraine, where recent military equipment can be stored.
Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tîlvăr announced the move June 11 during a ceremony on the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, positioned lower than 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The project to increase the military base, which has housed U.S. capabilities and forces since 1999, was approved prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“The explanation why Romania decided to increase our capabilities here is the results of when Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and in a while in 2014 in Crimea [when Russia annexed the peninsula]. Our plans have been approved since 2018 for this,” Romanian Air Force Col. Nicolae Cretu, the bottom commander, told Defense News in the course of the NATO-led exercise Ramstein Legacy held here.
The work will partly involve the development of a brand new runway, a guard tower, and extra hangars to guard existing and forthcoming military assets purchased by the Eastern European country. The official estimated the fee related to the expansion will come to €2.5 billion (U.S. $2.7 billion).
Romania has several ongoing acquisition programs, primarily focused on short-range and very-short-range air defense systems, on which it plans to spend as much as $2.1 billion.
It also received two additional Patriot batteries last 12 months, now totaling 4, and is partaking within the joint procurement of as much as 1,000 Patriot PAC-2 GEM-T missiles under the European Sky Shield Initiative.
The air base’s location has proved highly strategic in recent times, each for Romania and its NATO allies. For example, the Romanian officer cited the bottom’s value in the course of the Iraq war, because it was utilized by allies “to project force outside of their territories and over long distances.”
Romanian media reported the modernization effort involves the development of a military installation similarly sized to that of Ramstein Air Base in Germany, although the official didn’t confirm this aspiration.
Given its direct access to the Black Sea and shut proximity to Russian territory, the air base has hosted several NATO-run Enhanced Air Policing missions, including this 12 months’s edition, which welcomed the first-ever deployment of Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets.
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a big selection of topics related to military procurement and international security, and focuses on reporting on the aviation sector. She relies in Milan, Italy.