As Russian drones continue to strike Ukraine, Romanian and NATO forces held a two-week-long exercise at the Capu Midia training range in Romania, testing interceptor drones and counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) technology, including made-in-Israel, to stop the hostile aerial threats.
The event, part of the LCI‑X Crucible Eastern Phoenix 2026 exercise, which took place between April 14 and 24, was organized by Romania’s Ministry of Defense in cooperation with NATO’s Allied Command Transformation. Over 400 troops, along with defense industry manufacturers, tested the C-UAS technology to find the most efficient way to react to hostile threats coming from the sea.
During the drills, at least two Israeli C-UAS technologies were tested. Sentrycs, along with their local partner STARC4SYS, demonstrated its C-UAS solution, which is based on the company’s cyber-over-RF (range finder) technology. The technology enables passive detection, tracking, and identification of unauthorized drones, along with controlled mitigation capabilities.
Operating without jamming or kinetic measures, the system allows authorized operators to safely take control of and land unwanted drones in designated areas when required. The solution is designed to support secure operations in dense environments, while maintaining communications continuity without interfering with authorized systems.
Romanian defense company Optoelectronica also successfully demonstrated its Sky Dome counter‑drone system. Sky Dome was developed in collaboration with Skylock Systems, an Israeli defense company focusing on C-UAS technology.
Skylock is one of two subsidiaries of Israel’s Autonomous Guard and specializes in drone detection and neutralization, while the BeeSense Sensor Systems handle border threat detection across air, land, and sea.
Sky Dome’s multi-layer architecture combines a laser range finder (LRF) detector, EO/IR sensor, radar, and an acoustic sensor into one unified operational picture.
It combines multi-sensor detection, AI-driven analytics, and real-time mitigation to provide accurate threat identification and an effective response.
Roy Riftin, CEO of Autonomous Guard, told Defense & Tech by The Jerusalem Post that some 30 companies from all over the world took part in what he described as a “combination of a drill and demo” for most European Union NATO armies. While large international companies attended, none of Israel’s top defense companies participated.
“Autonomous Guard is at the core of operational challenges, and the biggest one in the world right now is drones. We have a very effective multi-layer platform that delivered during the drill, it was very effective,” Riftin said.
He explained that the methodology of the drill was to send approximately 150 drones of different classes at different times to be detected and identified before being neutralized either by hard or soft kill methods. The drill also included a swarm attack.
“One of the biggest challenges was to detect,” he said. “Especially detecting fiber optic drones.”
Sky Dome’s multi-layer architecture, which includes radar, electro-optic, RF, and an acoustic sensor allows the company to “detect and identify 90 percent of drones there,” Riftin continued, explaining that the acoustic sensor aided in detecting the noise of the propellers belonging to fiber optic drones.
Local Romanian news website electronica.net said that the Sky Dome system provided by Optoelectronica “successfully neutralized all unmanned aerial systems that were used by the organizers throughout the entire exercise.”
Romania, one of Europe’s largest nations, shares a 650-kilometer land border with Ukraine. Russian drones have repeatedly breached Romania’s airspace, including on Saturday when a drone attack targeting Ukraine damaged electricity infrastructure and a home in the Romanian city of Galati.
As the war continues to push countries around the globe to increase their defense spending and modernize their armed forces, Romania’s Armed Forces has been modernizing its military. Romanian air defenses currently include F-16 fighter jets, Patriot systems, Lockheed Martin’s HIMARS rocket launchers, short-range South Korean surface-to-air Chiron missiles, and German anti-aircraft Gepard guns.
According to Reuters, other anti-drone technology that took part in the exercise were Merops drone interceptors made by ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s company Project Eagle that will be put into operation in Romania “in a matter of days,” Defense Minister Radu Miruta said.
Merops is already in use in Ukraine and Poland.
Romania and Ukraine also plan to jointly produce drones under the European Union’s new SAFE rearmament funding mechanism.
Reuters contributed to this article
