The Saber Guardian-16 multinational military exercise kicked off in Romania on Thursday, August 3, at the Getica Combat Training Center of the Land Forces in Cincu, Brasov county.

Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis also attended the event on the opening day.

More than 900 troops of the Romanian Land Forces participate in the drill, together with 1,700 US soldiers equipped with M1A2 Abrams tanks and Bradley armored machine guns, and 47 Canadian troops, according to information provided by the Ministry of National Defence.

Saber Guardian-16 is a multinational drill based on a fictional scenario, aimed at training military personnel for planning, execution, and evaluation of military actions in a certain environment. It helps develop collaboration between NATO member states, and promote regional cooperation with the countries in the Black Sea region.

The exercise has four stages: exercises of command, training through computer-aided simulation, training with troops on the ground, and tactical exercises with firings with all types of weapons.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photos: US Army Europe on Flickr)