Exercise Sea Breeze 26-2 commenced in Portland, UK, earlier this week with naval forces from various NATO and non-NATO member countries participating.
Naval forces from Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Greece, Japan, Latvia, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States are all participating.
The second iteration of Sea Breeze 26 will be focused on mine countermeasures (MCM) and will take place from July 13 to 24. Participating forces will conduct minehunting operations utilising MCM vessels, explosive ordnance disposal teams, dive and salvage operations, unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vessels..
The US Navy said Sea Breeze 26-2 will offer NATO allies and partner nations the opportunity to enhance interoperability and warfighting capabilities within the Black Sea region. The exercise will include staff planning, command and control, and tactical execution with a particular focus on integrating diverse systems and capabilities within a complex, multi-domain environment.
At the Sea Breeze 26-2 headquarters, a combined and multinational Staff will conduct integrated training with a focus on planning and targeting capabilities, command-and-control of ally and partner forces, electronic warfare exploitation and countermeasures, and the integration of unmanned systems to increase and consolidate cross-domain awareness.
This year, Exercise Sea Breeze 2026 occurred in two iterations, Sea Breeze 26-1 and 26-2. The first iteration, Sea Breeze 26-1, was hosted by Romania in the Babadag Training Area and the Danube Delta region from June 3 to 19.