The Diplomat
The US Embassy announced yesterday that the destroyer USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) is scheduled to move from Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia, to Rota Naval Base next autumn.
With the arrival of the Oscar Austin, there will be five US Naval Force destroyers deployed in Rota, according to the agreement reached by US President Joe Biden with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in July 2022, to raise to six the number of American ships that will have their permanent base at the Cadiz base. Another destroyer is scheduled to arrive in Rota in 2026.
In a statement, the US diplomatic representation indicated that the USS Oscar Austin is the first of two additional Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers that will join the current Forward Deployed Naval Force in Europe (FDNF-E), adding capabilities and responsibilities to the US European Command (EUCOM) and the US Africa Command (AFRICOM). “The transfer of the USS Oscar Austin’s home port to Rota is the next step to strengthen the maritime presence and combat power of the United States and NATO in Europe, as well as to increase the capacity to execute the One Atlantic concept,” announced Admiral Daryl Caudle, commander of the US Fleet Forces Command.
The USS Oscar Austin joins the four destroyers of the European command that the Navy maintains permanently together with some 3,200 soldiers at the Rota base, and whose arrival began in 2014.
According to the Embassy’s statement, the arrival of the fifth destroyer reinforces “the US Navy’s commitment to its long-standing relationship with maritime allies in Spain.” “In addition,” it adds, “it will improve operations to support maritime security together with allies and partners in Europe and Africa and will strengthen the transatlantic link.”
Washington believes that “the deployment will allow additional coordination between the US and Spanish navies in ship maintenance and training.” And he states: “Operating naval forces from Spain maximizes flexibility and guarantees access to strategic global scenarios.”
On May 8, 2023, the US ambassador to Spain, Julissa Reynoso, signed in Madrid on behalf of President Biden the deepening of the Defense Cooperation Agreement with the Kingdom of Spain to increase the presence of the US Navy at the Rota Naval Base from four Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers to six.
In his meeting with Sánchez, during the NATO summit held in Madrid in 2022, Biden stated that Spain is an “indispensable ally” of the US and a solid partner in bilateral security matters. “We are grateful – he stressed – for the almost 70 years of hospitality of the Spanish people as hosts of the United States forces in Rota and Morón, and for the Spanish people deployed to support the protection of peace through NATO, UN, EU and national missions. The expansion of our defense cooperation to station two additional U.S. destroyers in Rota is further evidence of our strong collaboration and will further contribute to our collective defense and local economy.”
