Starting today, Spartan transport and F-16 Falcon fighter airplanes will be flying over Szeklerland this week at an altitude of only 300 meters. The council of Sepsiszentgyörgy warned that the planes will be taking part in a military exercise with a route of Gyergyószentmiklós/Gheorgheni – Csíkszereda/Miercurea Ciuc – Sepsiszentgyörgy/Sfântu Gheorghe – Székelyudvarhely/Odorheiu Secuiesc.
The military planes above Szeklerland are part of the Concordia 19 military exercise taking place in Hargita/Harghita and Kovászna/Covasna Counties as well as in Bucharest. The main phase will be held in Csíkszereda, where – according to a fictional scenario – a brewery blows up as a result of a cyber-attack, resulting in chemical pollution that leads to casualties.
Before the start of the military exercise, Brigadier General Marian Botea said that they want to improve the inter-institutional cooperation within the armed forces and also have a duty to be prepared for a hybrid attack, given their current monitoring of Russian propaganda. According to the brigadier general, the reason why they have chosen Kovászna and Hargita Counties for the location of the military exercise is because they have good cooperation with the local institutions there.
The term “hybrid warfare” describes a strategy that employs conventional military force supported by irregular and cyber warfare tactics. The attacker synchronizes a wide variety of capabilities during its attack, targeting the weak points of a state’s political, military, economic, and infrastructure systems.
A similar military exercise already took place in Kovászna County last week. That time, the Bucharest gendarmerie first occupied the Óriáspince-peak near Maksa/Moacșa with its camouflaged jeeps, tents, 360-degree camera, and Romanian flags and then commanded their grandiose gendarmerie exercise from this “nest”.
Title Image: Romanian Air Force C-27J Spartan at Otopeni Air Show 2010 (Photo: military.wikia.org)
