DDG-103 is a Nuclear Capable Guided Missile Destroyer.

WASHINGTON DC – The Navy announced Thursday it was sending a guided-missile  destroyer to the Black Sea amid the crisis in Ukraine.

The  move comes a day after the Pentagon decided to send six additional F-15s to  Poland, to reassure NATO allies after Russian forces moved into the Ukrainian  peninsula of Crimea.

The Navy said in a statement that the deployment was “routine” and  planned before the crisis unfolded.

“While in the Black Sea, the ship will conduct a port visit and  routine, previously planned exercises with allies and partners in the region,”  the statement said. 

The USS Truxton left the Greek port of Souda Bay on Thursday to  carry out joint training with Romanian and Bulgarian forces, the Navy  said.

The Truxton is part of the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier  strike group, which is currently operating in the Mediterranean  Sea.  (read more)