Romania: the Eastern flank

“Mihail Kogălniceanu” set to become the NATO's largest Eastern flank and Black Sea base

Eugen Nasta, 27.03.2024, 14:01

Constanta County’s “Mihail Kogălniceanu” military base, dubbed MK by the US military, is located in south-eastern Romania, very close to the Black Sea. MK will be expanded as part of a project worth 2.5 billion Euro or thereabouts. MK will thus become NATO’s largest such facility in eastern Europe. According to its new layout, MK will stretch along a surface area of 2,800 hectares. It will host roughly 10,000 military and their families. It is estimated that works for all four stages of the project will be completed by 2038.

The project stipulates the construction of all that is necessary for the functioning and the missions of a base of such dimensions, said the Commander of the 57 Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase, Nicolae Cretu.:

“The project, in its first stage, the contracted one, stipulates the development and the construction of a new runway. Then we will focus on the integration of the newly-built facilities into the existing facilities and that is why we will connect the two runways, so they can be used at full capacity when needed. After that, we will build running belts for the aircrafts. We will have the facilities, the operational area that will be capable of supplying the fighter jets but also the aircrafts carrying personnel, troops, materials, ammunition with all that is needed for the relocated capabilities. Then we will have a new control tower, so that later we can expand the troops’ receiving capacity and develop the permanent infrastructure, so we can provide the required standards for all military, the Romanian ones, but also tor he military of our allies and partners who will be stationed at the base. ”

At the end of the third development stage, the base will host roughly 10,000 military and their families. The figure is similar to that of Europe’s largest US military base, located in Ramstein, Germany. But not only the number of stationed militaries is important, as part of the project stretching over two decades.

Commander Nicolae Creţu stated that “underlying the ongoing development there is no such thing as comparison or competition. It is an array of capabilities that in time turned out to be required, in a bid to be installed in the area, while their destination is the expansion of the security and safety zone the Alliance can project over the Black Sea basin. The most impending need stems from the development of the air capabilities, because only that way we can receive the other categories of ground forces and special operations. Apart from the development project, we concurrently work on many other levels. We focus on the integration of the two infrastructure areas. We also focus on maintaining the existing infrastructure operational. Also, the development of the capability targeting the receiving and welcoming of the militaries has been permanently dynamic. Apart from the permanent infrastructure, we also have semi-permanent or temporary infrastructure available, which belongs not only to the Romanian Air Force but also to our allies and partners, the commander of the Mihail Kogalniceanu base also stated. ”

The project kicked off as early as 2018, when the first legislative act was passed. It is almost entirely financed through the state budget, via the National Defense Ministry. As we have mentioned before, it is divided into four development stages.

The first stage has been contracted already, it began in 2024 and will be completed in five years’ time.

The second stage will continue and consists in erecting the hangars for the aircrafts, simulators, ammunition and fuel warehouse, feeding facilities.

Stages three and four focus on the administrative aspects, which pertain rather to the staff’s standard of living and their support. That also includes social facilities where the military can live with their families. At present, in MK, there are roughly 3,500 US and Allied military, that including the 82nd Airborne Division. At times, MK has temporarily played host to up to 5,000 military.