Ukrainian naval aviation holds drills with U.S. destroyer in Black Sea

KIEV, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian naval aviation held a passing exercise (PASSEX) in the Black Sea with the U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS CARNEY DDG 64, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Friday.

During the drills, two Ukrainian helicopters of Ka-27 type have practiced the landing on the deck of the U.S. warship and conducted the reconnaissance and the surveillance of the situation at sea, said a statement on the ministry website.

The aim of the maneuvers was to work out the cooperation between the two parties under the NATO standards and to increase the interoperability between them, the statement said.

The U.S. destroyer paid a friendly visit to Ukraine's southern Black Sea port of Odessa on Jan.8-11. Enditem