Frigate ‘Cristóbal Colón’ (F-105) will arrive next weekend at the Italian port of Catania to attend the planning meetings prior to NATO’s exercise ‘Dynamic Manta 2020’. The F-105 will integrate into a multinational exercise for two weeks to continue her scheduled training, mainly in anti-submarine warfare scenarios.
The ‘Cristóbal Colón’ will participate in these exercises along with several units from navies of Germany, Great Britain, Canada, USA, France, Greece, Italy and Turkey. The objective of ‘Dynamic Manta 2020’ is to provide the participating NATO units with advanced training in a realistic and demanding anti-submarine scenario.
With this exercise the Spanish frigate continues her planned operational activity for the year 2020, which began with the participation in exercise ‘MAR-31’ in waters of the Galician coast and the Cantabrian Sea last January.
About the ‘Cristóbal Colón’
The F-105 is the fifth ‘Álvaro de Bazán’-class frigate. The AEGIS combat system, together with the SPY-1D multifunction radar, provides a great anti-aircraft warfare capability. The commanding officer of the ship is Commander Juan Bautista Payá Martínez.
For this deployment her crew consists of almost 170 men and women plus the SH60-B helicopter personnel which will strengthen the ship’s capabilities.