The largest NATO military base in Europe is being created on Romanian soil and could be operational by 2040 due to the expansion of the 57th Romanian Air Force installation, “Mihail Kogălniceanu.”
According to the Romanian news channel tvrinfo, work has begun in the town of Mihail Kogălniceanu (in Constanța County, in the country’s southeast) to extend the existing military complex, which will cover several thousand hectares. Thousands of American military members and their families will be stationed here. The Romanian state will invest $2.5 billion in the project.
The extension of the “Mihail Kogălniceanu” base will result in a massive military complex spanning 2.8 thousand hectares, including new structures. The project includes increasing the airport’s infrastructure, which includes runways, a new control tower, a radio beacon and navigation system, flight simulators, and hangars. There will also include administrative and social facilities, schools and kindergartens, stores, restaurants, a movie theatre, and a hospital. The city will be home to 10,000 NATO soldiers, their families, and base support staff.
According to the television, work on access roads and the electrical grid has already begun in the southern portion of the complex. The base will be completely operational by 2040. According to some estimates, the Kogălniceanu complex will be the largest NATO military installation in Europe.
According to the station, the decision to extend the 57th Romanian Air Force Base “Mihail Kogălniceanu” was made against the backdrop of a two-year-old military confrontation on Romania’s frontiers. Since 1999, the US Armed Forces have used the “Mihail Kogălniceanu” base, and units of the 101st Airborne Division and allied jets are stationed here to help the Romanian Air Force with air policing missions.
The base has been used by US soldiers since 1999, and it now hosts units of the US 101st Airborne Division as well as allied fighter jets on air security operations.
