The 24th iteration of Exercise Sea Breeze concluded in Constanta, Romania, on 12 September, bringing to a close the third and final phase of this year’s Black Sea-focused multinational training, the U.S. Navy stated.
Sea Breeze 2025 included participation from 18 NATO Allies, partners, and Black Sea nations across three geographically distinct serials. According to U.S. 6th Fleet, the exercise placed particular emphasis on mine countermeasure (MCM) operations in response to the increased presence of sea mines in the Black Sea.
U.S. Navy Vice Adm. J.T. Anderson, commander of U.S. 6th Fleet, said in the release: “Exercises like Sea Breeze play a vital role in ensuring future peace, security, and stability in the Black Sea. Through three iterations of collaborative effort, we have improved our fleets and forces MCM capabilities, built the infrastructure to effectively integrate and adapt our command and control, and demonstrated our shared commitment to building a stable and secure maritime environment for all of our nations.”
The first phase, hosted by Romanian forces at Smardan Range, focused on amphibious and land operations with six nations, including riverine training, HIMARS live-fire drills, and integration of unmanned aerial systems. It concluded with a simulated amphibious raid.
The second phase, hosted by the UK at Portland Port, concentrated on joint mine hunting, dive and salvage operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and the use of robotic and autonomous systems. A combined-staff headquarters oversaw planning, targeting, and command-and-control for coalition forces.
The third and final phase, co-hosted by U.S. 6th Fleet and the Romanian Navy in Constanta, gathered Heads of Navy from 13 NATO and partner nations. Discussions covered perspectives on the Black Sea, development of the MCM Black Sea Task Group, information-sharing, command-and-control innovations, and the application of unmanned systems in mine countermeasure operations.
Participating forces came from Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Exercise Sea Breeze, co-hosted annually by the United States and Ukraine since 1997, remains a central multinational maritime exercise in the Black Sea, integrating sea, land and air components to build interoperability and capability among participating forces.
