France to extend patrol plane mission in Black Sea due to attacks on vessels

The French maritime patrol aircraft Atlantique 2 will remain in Romania for several more weeks to strengthen the security of merchant shipping in the Black Sea.

This was reported by Reuters, citing the commander of the aircraft.

France redeployed Atlantique 2 to Romania’s Mihail Kogelnicana air base on October 18 after Romania and Bulgaria requested reinforcements from NATO. The aircraft’s mission was originally scheduled to end on November 6.

The Atlantique 2 is designed to detect submarines, warships, naval drones and mines. According to the commander, the aircraft can detect threats, but is not capable of intercepting or neutralizing naval drones.

In particular, on October 28, the crew of Atlantique 2 detected three naval drones that attacked the container ship Contship Jet in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. The ship later sank.

According to the commander, the Bulgarian authorities and the crew of the container ship were warned about the threat an hour before the attack. Thanks to this, all the sailors remained unharmed.

According to Reuters, in October, at least nine cargo ships were attacked near the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria. About 34 sailors were reported dead or missing.

Amid the growing threats, NATO announced its intention to invest more than $40 billion in counter-drone equipment over the next five years.

Earlier, USM reported that France had redeployed an Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft to Romania to detect threats to shipping and strengthen protection in the Black Sea.