NATO nations send 27 ships for Breeze 2019 exercises

Over 27 ships and 2,000 personnel of 12 NATO allies are on the Black Sea this week for the Breeze 2019 exercise, a Bulgaria-led maritime exercise.

Units from NATO allies Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States, as well as two of NATO's standing navies, its Maritime Group Two and Mine Countermeasures Group Two, are participating.

The nine-day exercise, conducted annually since 1996, is designed to improve operational and tactical interoperability, enhance interagency cooperation, and evaluate Bulgarian Navy units.

"The purpose of this exercise is to build our interoperability, that ability to work together as allies, coming from different countries, and being able to conduct operations with a standardized set of procedures," said Commodore Josee Kurtz of the Royal Canadian Navy, commander of the NATO maritime group.

Three Poseidon P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, the military equivalent of the Boeing 737-800, are part of the U.S. Navy's forces. The exercises are scheduled to conclude on Sunday.

The Black Sea exercise began on July 12. On Tuesday, the NATO mine countermeasures group conducted seamanship and communication drills. Vessels traveled through a fictional minefield, testing their ability to keep sea lanes open and safe for navigation.

This year's Breeze exercises began the day a separate exercise, named Sea Breeze, concluded in Odesa, Ukraine. That event was co-hosted in the Black Sea by Ukraine and the United States and also involved participants from Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

37 countries defend China over Xinjiang in UN letter
Geneva (AFP) July 12, 2019
UN ambassadors from 37 countries released a letter Friday defending China's treatment of Uighur and other minorities in the Xinjiang region, in direct response to Western criticism earlier this week. Envoys from across the EU - along with Australia, Canada and Japan and New Zealand - had earlier co-signed a text denouncing China's conduct in Xinjiang, where one million people, mostly ethnic Uighurs, are reportedly being held in internment camps. On Friday a diverse group of states - includin ... read more