'Danube Protector 18' navy exercise ends in Constanta County

More than 300 sailors and 11 riverboats and sea-going military ships returned on Friday morning completing the 11th stage of the second series of the "Danube Protector 18" exercise carried out between Braila and Tulcea, and also on the Sfantu Gheorghe branch, according to the Romanian Navy Staff (SMFN). 

Part of the "Danube Protector 18" exercise, organised on the Danube by the Mihail Kogalniceanu River Flotilla Command, between October 29 and November 1, were firing double-barrelled 100 mm and 30 millimetre cannons, a 14.5-millimetre gun machine and other naval artillery systems, including rocket launchers, and exercising standard procedures to discourage illegal action on the river in high-risk districts. 

Talking about the exercise completed on Friday morning, SMFN press officer Corneliu Pavel said that is the most important naval exercise using live ammunition conducted on the Danube this year by a NATO military force. 

"In recent years, following the degradation of the security situation at the eastern border of the European Union and NATO, training inland navy officers has intensified and diversified to ensure a steady and robust military presence at the mouth of the Danube, thus meeting one of the commitments of Romania to its NATO partners," said Pavel. 

Romania is the only NATO member to possess an operational river flotilla with the greatest combat and action capability. This structure has deployable boats to the Danube and the lagoon areas of the Danube Delta, as well as the vicinity of the seaside. The Romanian Navy's riverboats have been built at Romanian shipyards complete with numerous artillery systems capable of firing targets 20 kilometers away.