Page 82 - HeliOps Frontline Issue 26

82 HELIOPS FRONTLINE / ISSUE 26 / 2019

Two of the three
Puma Navals
in use with the
Romanian Navy
are checked prior
to a new flight
from the Tuzla
Airfield military
platform.

is on the eve of a large expansion of the number of flight crews. At
this moment, we have nine pilots with a currency on the type that
we operate. These are the eight initial pilots and myself, as the unit
commander. Six additional pilots are currently coming from the Air
Force Academy. An additional seven will finish their school, training
and flying phase in September/October 2020.’ With the arrival of
this young group of naval aviators – for the first time in thirteen
years – a lot will change for the small ‘Black Sea Knights’ squadron.

Annexation of Crimea

As the name of the squadron suggests, the unit is located a
stone’s throw from the Black Sea. In addition to Romania, Bulgaria,
Ukraine, Georgia, Russia and Turkey also border the Black Sea.
Since the 2014 Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the
tension in the region has risen. In 2018, the State Secretary in the
Romanian Ministry of National Defense Nicolae Nasta expressed his
concerns: ‘Moscow has achieved the ability to militarily control two-
thirds of the Black Sea basin, creating a security issue for NATO’.
To protect the sovereignty of the country, there has been a large
increase in flight movements due to the enhanced Air Policing.