Romanian - US exercise off the coast of Black Sea

Soldiers from the Romanian Navy and Air Force carried out, on Friday, a joint training mission with soldiers from the US Navy in the Black Sea basin, informs the Ministry of National Defense (MApN).

Thus, Marasesti frigate from the endowment of the General Staff of the Naval Forces and five air means of the General Staff of the Air Force, respectively four F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from the 86th "Lieutenant aviator Gheorghe Mociornita" Air Base and an IAR 330L Puma of the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, operated together with destroyer USS Porter and the USNS Laramie oil tanker, belonging to the US Navy, in order to demonstrate the interoperability between the Romanian and US soldiers.

According to the cited source, the exercise was "this year's first joint Romanian-American training activity and was aimed at strengthening the reassurance measures of the North Atlantic Alliance in the South-East of Europe, as well as increasing the level of interoperability, demonstrating once again the US involvement in ensuring security in the Black Sea area."

The Marasesti frigate, participant in the action, is the command-ship of the "Ready for Action" naval forces package of the Romanian Naval Forces, a structure that ensures the immediate reaction capacity of the Romanian Army and the management of our country's maritime space, by rapidly deploying ships, aircraft and other specialized structures in maritime districts.

The air sequence of the exercise was coordinated by the Air Component of the General Staff of the Air Force and included ADEX-type missions (air defense exercises), executed with F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from the 86th Air Base in Borcea, states MApN .

The strategic partnership with the USA is "one of the pillars of Romania's defense and security. In an increasingly dynamic security environment, such as the Black Sea, cooperation between the Romanian Army and the US forces deployed in Europe contributes to strengthening the ability to react quickly and effectively, to a wide range of threats to social security on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance," the Romanian ministry said.

According to the Ministry of National Defense, "by successfully executing the joint training exercise, the allied forces involved are fully prepared to carry out their missions in all areas, demonstrating involvement and interoperability in the context of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic."

AGERPRES