Approximately 4,000 Romanian and NATO-allied troops participate with 500 pieces of equipment in the "Noble Jump" 2017 (NOJP17) multinational exercise running between May 26 and June 16 on the territory of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, the Ministry of National Defence informed in a release to agerpres.
Most of the foreign forces will arrive from Albania, Germany, the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain by air, and the heavy equipment will be transported by sea and rail, followed by the land convoy on the Greece - Bulgaria - Romania route, at the "Getica" National Training Center in Cincu.
"Noble Jump is an important NATO exercise. It allows us to sustain interoperability as an alliance. We will deploy or 'jump' forces from around the theater to Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. I appreciate the support of the host nations' authorities and their close cooperation as Noble Jump ensures that our skills, knowledge and experience are kept up to date," Admiral Michelle Howard, Commander of Joint Force Command Naples, which has command of the NATO Response Force in 2017, said about the exercise.
As part of NOJP17, the Multi-National Division South East HQ will have the mission of coordinating the entire tactical deployment of troops and equipment on the territory of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. This process will be facilitated by the NATO Force Integration Units (NFIUs) in Bulgaria and Romania, as well as by forces of the host nations.
"The high point of the operation will be the live-fire exercise that will take place at the Cincu Training Center. Besides the two NFIUs in Romania and Bulgaria, the Romanian forces that will participate in the integrated training at Cincu belong to the Craiova-based Multinational Brigade," Commander of the Multinational Division South East HQ, Brigadier General Ovidiu Uifaleanu, said about the Noble Jump 2017 exercise.
NOJP17 is a short-notice exercise, planned and led by the Joint Force Command Naples. The exercise will test the operational capabilities of the elements of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) and the level of implementation in Bulgaria and Romania of the Readiness Action Plan to increase the Alliance's response capability.