A key piece of Europe‘s missile defense shield — known as the European Phased Adaptive Approach — arrived in southern Spain on Tuesday. The USS Donald Cook (DDG-75), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, made its way into Roto at noon, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa in Naples said.
Several prominent figures were on hand to greet the ship, including Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, U.S. Ambassador James Costos, AVEUR-AF commanding officer Adm. Bruce W. Clingan, and Adm. Santiago Bolíbar Piñeiro, Commander of the Spanish Navy.
Three additional Arleigh Burke-class guided missile U.S. Navy destroyers — all of which carry the Aegis Weapon System (AWS) — will join the USS Donald Cook in Spain over a two-year period. The four ships will be stationed at Naval Station Rota Spain, which is north of Gibraltar.
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As Stars and Stripes points out, other parts of Europe’s missile defense shield will include land-based Aegis interceptor batteries in Romania and Poland, radar in Turkey and a command center at the U.S. Air Force base in Rammstein, Germany.
Read more: http://www.stripes.com/news/first-of-four-missile-destroyers-arrives-in-spain-1.266948
