Interesting what a sole frigate can do (if you have one)
The days of the old Spanish Armada have long gone, but today’s Spanish Navy just wrapped up a historic 160-day, 24,000nm globetrotting deployment that included the country’s first warship participation in RIMPAC.
Spain deployed the CODAG Aegis guided-missile frigate ESPS Álvaro de Bazán (F101) to the Pacific during the biannual exercise, where the ship engaged in multinational air defense, surface warfare, and live-fire drills. The latter included a Harpoon warshot expended in a SINKEX against the ex-USS Peleliu (LHA 5).
Spanish Navy Ship ESPS Álvaro de Bazán (F101) launches a Harpoon missile at the hulk of decommissioned Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) during a combined sinking exercise in the Pacific Ocean as part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2026, July 17, 2026.
Spanish Navy frigate Álvaro de Bazán (F-101) Bay of Acapulco, Mexico deployment in the Pacific
Spanish frigate EPS Álvaro de Bazán in the Panama Canal
She carries a 5″/54 forward, has a 48-cell VLS, 8-can Harpoon AshM battery, carries a single SH-60, and has a fit for four (4) triple Mk32 ASW torpedo tubes– which is a lot of tubes these days. Her sensor suite includes a SPY-1D 3-D phased array radar, active and passive sonar, two SPG-62 illuminators, and an Aegis combat system plus EW and countermeasures. That is a lot of firepower and capability in a 5,600-ton ship. For reference, she is about 1,000 tons heavier than a Knox-class FF, but much more capable
Prior to sending a warship to Hawaii, Spain attended RIMPAC ’24 as an observer country without deploying surface vessels or submarines.
Bazan just returned home last week to the Arsenal de Ferrol, with the proud flag flying.
However, this wasn’t her first Pacific cruise.
In 2007, she completed the first circumnavigation of the globe by a Spanish warship in 142 years (the last being a three-year circuit by the French-built, iron-hulled armored steam frigate Numancia from 1865-68), and made the first visit by a Spanish man-of-war to Australia in over 150 years.
Plus, Spain has four more or less identical sisters to Bazan, while the newer CODELAG F110 (Bonifaz)-class Aegis frigates, of which at least five are planned, are even more advanced.
The first, Bonifaz, is being fitted out ahead of commissioning, while the second, the future ESPS Roger de Lauria (F 112), was launched at Navantia Ferrol last week.
Spanish fragata F112 Roger de Lauria clase F110 launched 27 October 2026 at Ferrol
Spanish fragata F112 Roger de Lauria clase F110 launched 27 October 2026 at Ferrol
Spanish fragata F112 Roger de Lauria clase F110 launched 27 October 2026 at Ferrol
So tell me again why Spain can pull this off, and we haven’t had a proper FFG since 2005, when the SM-1 platform was stripped from our remaining OHPs, and we’ve never had an Aegis ship smaller than a cruiser-sized destroyer?