| Date | 14 Mar 2022 |
| Tracker | European Airspace Violations |
| Type | Incursion |
| Location |
Bistrița-Năsăud County, Romania
47.25, 24.53 (approximate) |
A Russian Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone came down in Bistrița-Năsăud County, deep inside Romania and far from the Ukrainian border. It was first taken for a privately owned commercial machine before being identified as an Orlan-10 of the Russian army. The type is a small catapult-launched surveillance drone rather than a strike weapon, and its appearance well inside Romanian territory pointed to a navigation failure rather than a deliberate overflight.
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Feb 2022 | Interception | Ukrainian Su-27 escorted to Romanian air base after losing contact |
| 2 Mar 2022 | Incursion | Russian Su-24 and Su-27 fighters violate Swedish airspace east of Gotland |
| 10 Mar 2022 | Incursion | Tu-141 drone crashes in Zagreb after crossing three borders |
| 29 Apr 2022 | Incursion | Russian An-30 survey aircraft violates Swedish airspace off Blekinge |
GlobalMilitary.net's 2026 inventory snapshot shows nine NATO members — Iceland, Luxembourg, the three Baltic states, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia and Slovenia — hold no fixed-wing fighters, attack aircraft or bombers and depend on Allied air policing.
GlobalMilitary.net's incident log counts 45 established violations of European airspace between January 1 and August 16, 2026, against 31 for the whole of 2025 - and almost all of the growth sits in incidents that ended with a shootdown or an explosion on the ground.
An Italian Eurofighter on NATO Baltic Air Policing duty destroyed an unidentified drone over eastern Latvia before dawn on 14 August, the second time the alliance's quick-reaction force has shot one down over the country this year.