USS Laboon (DDG-58) entered the Black Sea on Friday in concert with a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon and a NATO E-3A Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), U.S. 6th Fleet said in a statement.
Russia’s National Defense Control Center told Tass on Friday the Russian Navy was monitoring the patrol.
“The Black Sea Fleet’s forces and capabilities have started to track the US Navy guided-missile destroyer Laboon that entered the Black Sea on June 11, 2021,” the center said in a statement to Tass.
Laboon, “is the fifth U.S. Navy ship to visit the Black Sea in 2021. In addition to U.S. Navy ship visits, USCGC Hamilton (WMSL-753) departed the Black Sea on May 14 following operations with Black Sea partner navies and coast guards in support of maritime security and law,” 6th Fleet said.
Hamilton was the first Coast Guard cutter to operate in the Black Sea in a dozen years, the service said at the time.
Laboon deployed with USS Eisenhower (CVN-69) as an escort with the strike group in April. Ike and the bulk of its strike group are operating in the North Arabian Sea covering the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
