Drills and transports of military gear in Romania
In the context of large-scale military exercises being undertaken in Europe, Romania, a NATO member, is also hosting a series of drills aimed at improving the fighting capabilities of its armed forces.
Valentin Țigău, 20.03.2015, 13:37
Romania has this week been crossed by an impressive transport of US military equipment. A train carrying 15 Stryker armored fighting vehicles, Humvees and trucks, was bound for the US military base in Mihail Kogalniceanu, southeastern Romania. The airbase in Campia Turzii, central Romania, has received six US F-16 fighters, which made history during the War in Vietnam, while NATO warships and their Romanian counterparts have this week completed a series of drills focusing on anti-submarine warfare and on tactics of repelling attacks by speedboats and other fast vessels in the Black Sea.
The Romanian navy took part in the exercise with two corvettes, two missile-cutters, the frigate Marasesti and three airplanes. All these maneuvers are part of the larger-scale exercises held in NATO countries in northern Europe and in the Black Sea area, as well as in the Russian Federation, where president Putin ordered a series of maneuvers in order to test the response capability of Russia’s armed forces.
Romania has always had a defensive military policy, and its NATO accession in March 2004 didn’t change this, but integrated it into a common, stronger defence system with rights and obligations unanimously accepted by all 28 NATO member states. Referring to Romania’s participation in the latest military drills, brigadier general Dorin Ionita told our radio station that the present regional context of security, and especially Romania’s level of determination concerning operational needs have conditioned the participation of Romanian troops along their counterparts from NATO and partner countries to a significant number of drills scheduled for this year, namely about 30 large-scale exercises. He added that Romania has 10 major drills scheduled for this spring alone, the complexity of these exercises being given by their planning and unfolding in keeping with a unique scenario of multi-national connectivity, Dorin Ionita also added.
The airbase in Campia Turzii is currently hosting a large-scale US-Romania military exercise called the Dacian Warhawk, which experts say is aimed at providing a level of training in keeping with the present geo-political and geo-strategic situation, with well-defined battle scenarios and complete training.
