You're reading: Ukrainian Navy says Sea Breeze 2017 drills to be held in a ‘free play’ mode

ODESA – The Sea Breeze-2017 Ukraine-U.S. military drills will be held using a new methodology and under the leadership of the command headquarters developed in accordance with NATO standards.

“The specifics of the Ukrainian-U.S. exercise Sea Breeze 2017 are an altered structure of the headquarters, which this year will comprise the exercise control headquarters and a separate naval command headquarters, which is developed in compliance with NATO standards. The method used in holding the exercise will be different from that of the previous exercises as well: the international maneuvers will be held in a “free play” mode,” the press center quoted the head of the working group on planning the exercise nominated by the Ukrainian Navy, Deputy Navy Commander on Training Captain Oleksiy Neizhpapa, as having said.

Neizhpapa added that during the Sea Breeze-2017, the multinational naval command headquarters will exercise planning and control of forces under given conditions, as well as decision-making and supervising with regard to ship tactical groups and also coastal and air force components. This will allow for testing the advanced naval command headquarters’ capability of managing forces and operations to meet NATO standards, he said.

Besides representatives of Ukrainian and U.S. seamen, representatives of Britain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Italy, Canada, Lithuania, Moldova, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey, France and Sweden, as well as members of other Ukrainian military units will take part in the upcoming drills.

The drills will be held in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, and in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

The exercises scheduled for July will be preceded by the course training for Ukrainian navies in various disciplines involving foreign experts. In addition, it is planned to go through phases of operations planning without engaging main forces, which is to create an opportunity to enhance the naval command headquarters’ capabilities of holding an active phase of international maneuvers, he said.

The Sea Breeze Ukrainian-U.S. exercises have been held annually since 1997 in accordance with the 1993 Memorandum between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.