The Spanish Navy is set to deploy frigate ‘Alvaro de Bazán’ to join the ‘USS Gerald Ford’ carrier strike group.

Yesterday morning, the F-100 frigate ‘Álvaro de Bazán’ left her homeport in Ferrol (NW Spain) heading towards the US Navy naval base in Norfolk to participate in the maiden deployment of the aircraft carrier ‘USS Gerald R. Ford’

This deployment will last approximately two months and its mission will be focused on enhancing the interoperability of the Spanish Navy frigate and to improve the training level of her crew, together with the rest of the participating units.

The ‘Álvaro de Bazán’ will conduct exercises with warships of the 12th Carrier Strike Group (CSG-12) of the U.S. Navy, and with other ships from Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada and France, during which the frigate will have the opportunity to demonstrate her state-of-the-art capabilities.

The aircraft carrier ‘USS Gerald Ford’ was delivered to the US Navy in May 2017. The ship is the first of her class and the most modern unit currently in service in the world.

The commanding officer of frigate ‘Álvaro de Bazán’, is Commander Jesús Viñas Barciela. The ship is the first frigate of the F-100 series, and was delivered to the Spanish Navy in September 2002, precisely twenty years ago.

The current crew of the F-101 is two hundred and twenty-two women and men including the personnel of the embarked air unit (1 SH-60B helicopter), and the operational security squad made up of Spanish marines.