Three NATO guided missile warships are set to exercise with Ukrainian forces in the Black Sea later this month, a U.S. Navy official told USNI News on Monday.
Guided missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) and guided missile cruiser USS Hue City (CG-66) transited the Bosphorus Strait over the weekend and will join 16 other countries as part of SEA BREEZE 2017 starting Monday and running until July 22.
“The exercise is designed to enhance flexibility and interoperability, strengthen combined response capabilities, and demonstrate resolve among allied and partner nation forces to ensure stability in the Black Sea region,” read a statement from U.S. 6th fleet.
The exercise, “will focus on a variety of warfare areas to include maritime interdiction operations, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, damage control tactics, search and rescue and amphibious warfare.”
The U.K. Royal Navy Type 45 guided missile destroyer HMS Duncan (D37) was seen heading through the Dardanelles over the weekend by Turkish ship spotters and is expected to join the U.S. ships later in the week.
Currently, the bulk of the ships involved in the exercise are pier side in Odessa, Ukraine ahead of the at-sea portion of the exercise.
Sea Breeze 2017 is slated to feature more than 30 ships, 25 aircraft and 3,000 military personnel from across the participating countries.
The exercise, currently in its 17th iteration, has drawn protests from the Kremlin since Russia had seized control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014.
SEA BREEZE 2017 is an annual recurring multinational exercise that will focus on a variety of warfare areas to include maritime interdiction operations, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, damage control tactics, search and rescue, and amphibious warfare. The exercise is designed to enhance flexibility and interoperability, strengthen combined response capabilities, and demonstrate resolve among allied and partner nation forces to ensure stability in the Black Sea region.
This year’s participating nations include: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.