US, French Troops in Romania Hold NATO Military Drills

French serviceman operate a mortar during a joint French U.S. exercise involving HIMARS and MLRP rocket launchers at a firing range in Capu Midia, on the Black Sea shore, Romania, on Feb. 9, 2023. Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo

CAPU MIDIA, Romania—U.S. and French troops that are part of a NATO battlegroup in Romania held a military exercise on Thursday to test the 30-nation alliance’s eastern flank defenses, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine nears its one-year anniversary.

The joint combat drills at the Black Sea training range in Capu Midia, dubbed Eagle Royal 23, involved some 350 multinational battlegroup troops who practiced firing live ammunition from a U.S.-made HIMARS, a mobile, truck-mounted missile system. The HIMARS have been successfully used by Ukraine’s military against Russia.