Romania spent about €1.5 million intercepting three Russian drones
Romania spent about €1.5 million to destroy three Russian drones that violated the country’s airspace over three days. The most expensive part of the operations was the missiles fired by F-16 fighter jets.
According to Censor.NET, citing Digi24, the Romanian military used three AIM-9X missiles to intercept the three drones. Each missile costs about $400,000, meaning that the munitions alone cost approximately $1.2 million.
This figure also includes the cost of F-16 flight hours, aircraft maintenance and the operations themselves. The total expenditure is estimated at approximately €1.5 million.
Romania’s Ministry of Defence is already looking for cheaper ways to counter drones. According to Digi24, one option could be to use attack helicopters capable of destroying drones with onboard machine guns, which would significantly reduce the cost of such operations.
At the same time, the country continues to strengthen its air defence system. Romania is expected to receive two advanced counter-drone systems in 2027: one manufactured by an Israeli company and the other developed as part of a joint Ukrainian-Romanian project.
