According to a July 22, 2016 article by Sam LaGrone, “A U.S. guided missile destroyer and an amphibious warship are set to operate in the Black Sea as part of the Sea Breeze 2016 exercise hosted by Ukraine and the U.S., the Navy announced on July 22, 2016.

…Arleigh Burke destroyer USS Ross (DDG-17) will join 2,500 personnel from 13 countries for the exercises that include, “maritime interdiction operations as a primary means to enhance maritime security. Other warfare areas to be tested include air defense, anti-submarine warfare, damage control, search and rescue, and other tactical maneuvers,” accords to the Navy.

Ross – one of four U.S. destroyers based in Rota, Spain — will join the amphibious warship USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41) that entered the Black Sea on July 28, 2016. The amphibian embarked with a Marine “Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team, members of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 8, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 (Seabees), CNE-CNA/C6F Maritime Ashore Support Team (MAST), staff members from CNE-CNA/C6F, and embarked Marines.” The U.S. also sent a P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft to the two-week exercise.

Other countries involved in the exercise include Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the U.K. (After a military coup attempt, Turkey remains unstable and unreliable as a NATO ally with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan currently violating human rights)Turkey has sent an unknown number of ships to join the exercise in the midst of the failed coup attempt. U.S. European Command did not elaborate how many ships were expected when asked by USNI News on July 21, 2016. …Russian news wire Sputnik reported the exercises would be monitored by Russian signals intelligence ship Liman (SSV-824).”Russian Navy SI ships are designed to intercept and record the communications and electronic emissions – like radar signals — of potential adversaries.

(Special note: All warships from countries without a coast on the Black Sea operate under the 1936 Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits. Montreux rules call for foreign warships to depart the Black Sea after 21 days.)

(USNI News contributed to this News Flash)