The frigate "Álvaro de Bazán" set out to sea this Wednesday from its base in the Military Arsenal to join the NATO Permanent Naval Group SNMG-1, which will face Operation Brilliant Shield in northern European waters.
The departure of the Spanish frigate occurs the day after it became known that Spain will deploy a Nasams anti-missile battery in Estonia from April to protect its airspace on the eastern flank of the Atlantic Alliance and a report from the Norwegian intelligence indicates that Moscow has deployed nuclear-armed ships in the Baltic Sea for the first time since the Cold War, coinciding with the invasion of Ukraine.
The boat's farewell ceremony, which set sail minutes before ten in the morning, was attended by relatives of the crew, who will remain out of the city until next June.
The Navy has detailed about its deployment that the SNMG-1, under the control of the Allied Maritime Command of the Atlantic Alliance, is made up of units of the allied Navy and is permanently enlisted to assume the tasks as a NATO Response Force. .
"It usually operates in northern European waters, including the Baltic Sea, and its main mission is surveillance and deterrence," a statement said, going on to point out that it also "carries out an intense schedule of international exercises."
These tasks, the note adds, allow "maintaining their high degree of preparation", while the operation results in strengthening "the commitment that Spain and the Navy have with the collective defense of our allies."
The frigate participated in the second semester of 2022 in the inaugural deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, of the United States Navy, an activity that made it possible to significantly increase its level of training and interoperability.
With the soldier Jesús Viñas in command, he belongs to the 31st Surface Squadron and will be deployed with 216 men and women from his crew, but will also include members of the Marine Infantry Security Operational Team and an embarked air unit, equipped with a SH-60B helicopter of the Tenth Aircraft Squadron.
