A pair of Romanian Air Force (RoAF) Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 LanceR B/C fighters were recently scrambled to intercept a small, unidentified aerial target that had been detected within national airspace at an altitude of approximately 36,000ft over southeast Romania.
This scramble order was issued at approximately 1240hrs (local time) on February 14, ten minutes after the RoAF’s aerial surveillance system detected a small aerial target – which the air arm described as sharing the same “characteristics of a weather balloon” – operating over southeast Romania. Following its initial detection, the RoAF followed standard Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) protocols and scrambled two LanceR B/Cs from the 86th Air Base at Feteşti to the area where the target had been reportedly operating.
The two MiG-21s quickly arrived at the target area, but neither pilot was able to confirm the presence of a small aerial target using visual identification or by seeing it on the aircraft’s own onboard radars. The LanceR B/Cs remained in the target area for approximately 30 minutes before returning to base. There have been no further developments since.
While the RoAF noted that the target shared the same characteristics as a weather balloon, the lack of any visual confirmation of such a platform operating in the area it was reported makes it difficult to determine what caused this QRA event, leaving it open to speculation as to what ‘phantom object’ these RoAF MiG-21s were chasing on February 14.
The MiG-21 initially entered operational service with the RoAF in the mid-to-late 1960s. A total of 73 single-seat MiG-21M/MF/MF-75 Fishbed-J fighters and 14 two-seat MiG-21UM combat-trainers were upgraded to LanceR A/B standard (respectively) between 1995 and 2002. The LanceR A was tasked with ground attack missions, while the LanceR B maintained its combat-trainer role. A further 25 MiG-21MF/MF-75 airframes were converted to LanceR C standard and tasked with the air superiority role. The LanceR A fleet was retired from service in 2011 and less than 25 LanceR B/Cs remain in Romanian service today.
In light of the type’s diminishing safety record and high rate of attrition cases, the RoAF announced on April 15, 2022, that its remaining MiG-21s – which are currently employed in the air defence role – will be permanently withdrawn from operational use on May 15, 2023. In Romanian service, these fighters will be replaced by a fleet of second-hand Lockheed Martin F-16AM/BM (MLU) Fighting Falcons that have been sourced from the Portuguese Air Force and Royal Norwegian Air Force, respectively.
