Reuters: NATO Sends More Patrol Aircraft, Radars and Drones to the Black Sea After Repeated Attacks on Merchant Ships
Reuters reported on October 20 that NATO, after discussions on Black Sea security in Brussels, announced it is sending additional maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea region to strengthen monitoring, following weeks of attacks on merchant shipping.
Beyond the aircraft, radars and drones, member states have sent or will send intelligence personnel and explosives forensics teams, according to NATO military spokesperson U.S. Army Colonel Martin L. O'Donnell. Chief spokesperson Allison Hart said on social media that NATO has strengthened its posture on the eastern flank, including counter-drone capabilities.
Recent attacks include two chemical tankers hit by drones and set ablaze off the Romanian coast last week, leaving seven crew members missing; in the roughly ten days before that, at least five more cargo vessels were attacked off Romania and Bulgaria, with at least 23 crew missing or dead. Bulgaria had already asked NATO on October 14-16 to deploy fighter jets and anti-drone systems in the Black Sea and expects to join a NATO anti-drone initiative by the end of October.
NATO has not formally attributed the recent attacks to any country. Analysts believe Russia is almost certainly responsible; Moscow has not admitted carrying out the attacks. Bulgaria has likewise stopped short of explicitly accusing Russia, though Prime Minister Rumen Radev said the outcome of the attacks benefits the Russian Federation. Russia's ambassador to Sofia, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said she had no information from the Russian Defence Ministry about attacks on commercial vessels and did not rule out a provocation by a third party.
GSM previously reported drone attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea on October 6 and October 13, including the October 13 strike on two cargo vessels off Bulgaria in which one ship sank and 11 sailors went missing.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 英国皇家空军台风战机与罗马尼亚空军米格-21战机在黑海地区联合飞行（资料图）。英国国防部图，OGL 3.0 授权，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布／A Royal Air Force Typhoon flying with a Romanian Air Force MiG-21 over the Black Sea region (file photo). UK Ministry of Defence photo, Open Government Licence v3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- 2026-10-06Drones Hit Commercial Ships Off Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast; One Sinks
- 2026-10-13Second Ship Attack in a Week in the Black Sea: Drones Hit Two Cargo Vessels off Bulgaria, One Sinks and 11 Sailors Are Missing
- 2026-10-21Reuters: NATO Sends More Patrol Aircraft, Radars and Drones to the Black Sea After Repeated Attacks on Merchant ShipsThis story
