The militaries with the Naval Forces will participate, February 1 through 10, in the multinational exercise Sea Shield 17 in which NATO standard procedures of battle against air, underwater and terrestrial threats will be tested, informs a press release of the Romanian Naval Forces (SMFN).
According to the source, Sea Shield 17 will reunite 2,800 militaries from Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Romania, Spain, the USA, Turkey, and Ukraine, 16 surface vessels, one submarine and ten airplanes belonging to Romania and its partners will be deployed in the eastern area of the Black Sea Basin, of approximately 80,000 square kilometres (five times Dobrogea’s surface).
“The coordination of the exercise’s sequences will be carried out by the Fleet Commander, and King Ferdinand Frigate (photo) will ensure at sea the lead of the naval group comprising a destroyer, four frigates, a submarine, six aircraft of foreign partners, as well as 11 vessels and four airplanes belonging to Romania,” further reads the release.
In February 3-5, the stopover of foreign ships in Constanta Port is planned, the participating forces being made up of: NATO SNMG-2 Naval Group (the ESPS Juan de Borbon Spaniard frigate and the HMCS St. John’s Canadian frigate), the US Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR) with USS Porter destroyer and a reconaissance aircraft; the Turkish Naval Forces with one submarine, a P-235 airship and Fatih frigate, the Bulgarian Naval Forces with BGS Smeli frigate, Ukraine and Greece with defence officers, Romanian Naval Forces with King Ferdinand and Marasesti frigates, Horia Macellariu and Eustatiu Sebastian corvettes, Lastunul and Zborul missile corvettes, Lt. Lupu Dinescu and lt. Dimitrie Nicolescu minesweepers, two mobile missile-launchers land vessel and a special-operation detachment, Romanian Air Forces with two MiG 21 LanceR airplanes and a medical-evacuation helicopter.
The same source announces that some marines will be involved, until the end of this year, in the planning and deployment of 50 exercises, out of which six will be multinational applications planned and led by the Romanian Naval Forces and another 35 multinational exercises, organised by other military structures in Romania and by the North-Atlantic Alliance.