Russia to Join DANEX-2012 Naval Drills

RIA Novosti

17:25 12/03/2012

MOSCOW, March 12 (RIA Novosti) - Warships of Russia’s Baltic Fleet will take part for the first time in large-scale international naval drills in the Baltic Sea in September 2012, a spokesman for the Western military district said on Monday.

The DANEX/Northern Coasts-2012 exercises will be held off the Danish coast on September 1-12.

“About 50 warships from 20 countries, including Russia, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Germany, will take part in the DANEX-2012 international naval drills in the Baltic Sea on September 1-12,” Capt. 2nd Rank Vladimir Matveyev said.

“The drills will involve about 4,000 personnel,” he said.

The goal of the exercises is to practice combat interoperability within a multinational naval task force in local conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

A Russian military delegation will attend a planning conference for the DANEX drills in the Danish city of Jonstrup on March 13-16, the spokesman said.