NATO Receives First of Four U.S. Navy Destroyers for Missile Shield

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.

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.

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