The Romanian Navy has begun testing the new Black Talon drone countermeasure system at the military port of Constanța on the Black Sea. The system, developed as part of a long-standing collaboration with the U.S. Navy, is scheduled to enter operational service by the end of October 2026.
Black Talon is designed to detect, track, and monitor unmanned aerial vehicles near critical port infrastructure. According to the Romanian military, the system includes a high-performance 3D radar, electro-optical equipment, and passive electromagnetic radiation detection devices. The system provides a 360-degree field of view and can target detected objects.
The threat detection radius is approximately 10 km. One of the primary countermeasures is electronic jamming—Black Talon is capable of disrupting the communication channel between a drone and its operator, allowing the threat to be neutralized without necessarily destroying the drone physically.
Currently, Romanian military personnel are undergoing training to operate the new equipment. Following Constanta, plans are in place to equip the military ports of Mangalia, Tulcea, and Braila with similar systems. The U.S. side is to provide three more systems. Thus, protection will cover Romania’s military ports on both the Black Sea and the Danube, particularly near the Ukrainian border.
At the same time, the Romanian Navy is preparing to deploy the Sentinel system to monitor threats from the sea and underwater. It will use sonar capable of detecting unmanned underwater vehicles, combat divers, and mini-submarines. According to Navy officials, Black Talon and Sentinel can be integrated to form a comprehensive surveillance system covering the air, surface, and underwater spaces around the military ports.
The commander of the Constanta military port, Rear Admiral Ciprian Mandaki, announced on September 16 that the program has been implemented jointly with the U.S. Navy for several years and has now entered the operational phase. Black Talon is primarily intended to protect critical military infrastructure from aerial drones.
The強化 of security in Constanța follows a serious incident on June 5, 2026, when a maritime drone was detected in the civilian section of the port, near Pier No. 78. At approximately 10:30 a.m., the drone self-detonated. There were no casualties, as the area had already been cordoned off by Romanian intelligence services, the coast guard, and the military. The Romanian Ministry of Defense officially reported that the drone did not belong to the Romanian military and was of a type used in the war in Ukraine. The investigation into the incident was handed over to the prosecutor’s office.
Following this incident, Romanian authorities ordered the acceleration of measures to protect port infrastructure. At the same time, the Black Talon program itself had been launched earlier and was being developed as part of Romania’s cooperation with the United States in the field of maritime security.
For Ukraine, the strengthening of security at Romanian ports is of particular importance due to the proximity of Constanța and the Danube ports to the Ukrainian border and their role in the region’s Black Sea and Danube transportation infrastructure.
