Col. Dan Kent, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe district commander, speaks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 7, 2024, celebrating the completion of the new cargo pad at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania. The pad is part of more than $100 million in projects at the base. (Alfredo Barraza/U.S. Army)
U.S. and Romanian military leaders unveiled an airfield upgrade this week at Romania’s Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base that will spur growth at what may become one of NATO’s largest military installations in Europe.
A new cargo pad, completed Wednesday, will allow fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to unload equipment fit for a wide range of missions, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement Thursday.
The expansion comes amid growing security concerns in the Black Sea region prompted by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Widely referred to by U.S. personnel as “MK,” the base is less than 100 miles from Ukraine.
American forces have operated at Mihail Kogalniceanu since 1999. In 2009, the base formally became a permanent forward operating site. Earlier this year, the Army stood up its Black Sea garrison there.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is involved with various projects at the base, including one to improve its barracks.
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and 10th Mountain Division mark the units’ official departure and arrival at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, on July 15, 2024. The base is home to the Army's Black Sea garrison. (Julius Harris/U.S. Army)
A B-52H Stratofortress lands at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania on July 21, 2024. The base is on track to become the largest NATO military installation in Europe. (Flor Gonzalez/U.S. Army)
U.S. soldiers watch as a Black Hawk helicopter lands for a medical exercise at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania on July 11, 2024. A new cargo pad at the base will support rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. (Nolan Brewer/U.S. Army)
“This is all part of a larger construction program we’re proud to be managing that overall includes an investment of more than $100 million in projects,” Col. Dan Kent, the Corps of Engineers’ Europe district commander, said in the statement.
In June, Romania announced an estimated $2.7 billion expansion and modernization project at the base that includes construction of a new runway, a guard tower and additional hangars to house existing and future equipment.
The expansion is expected to allow the base to support about 10,000 NATO personnel and their families over 7,000 acres of land, Euronews reported in March, quoting Romanian defense officials.
A squadron of Romanian F-16 fighter jets recently bought from Norway as well as MQ-9 Reaper drones were expected to arrive at the base soon, the BBC reported in June.
Last month, two U.S. Air Force long-range B-52H Stratofortresses on their way to the base were intercepted by Russian fighter jets over the Barents Sea.
(Stars and Stripes)
The U.S. aircraft maintained their course without incident and became the first American bombers ever to operate at the installation, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Africa said at the time.
The B-52s came from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and were in Europe in connection with the Air Force’s ongoing bomber task force missions, which involve short-term deployments to the Continent. They returned to Louisiana in late July.
Russia has denounced NATO’s plans at Mihail Kogalniceanu, calling the expansion proof of the alliance’s “unrestrained militarization of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region.”
The chief of staff of NATO’s Allied Air Command, Italian Maj. Gen. Gianluca Ercolani, said in January that the work shows countries in the bloc “cooperating and standing shoulder to shoulder” to carry out their collective defense mission.
