Ongoing operations
Spanish command of NATO's Standing NATO Naval Group 1 ends
At sea
July 2, 2024
- The frigate F-102 "Almirante Juan de Borbón", the group's flagship, returns home after more than six months of deployment.
The frigate 'Almirante Juan de Borbón', command ship of NATO's Standing Naval Grouping No. 1 (SNMG-1), has begun its return home after more than six months of deployment.
During this period, the grouping has been led by Rear Admiral Joaquín Ruíz Escagedo, embarked on the frigate with his staff, which has been made up of 22 members, 17 of whom are Spanish and five international, from the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Poland.
Fifty percent of the national staff's personnel come from the High Readiness Maritime Headquarters (CGMAD), one of whose missions is to generate deployable staffs. The rest of its members come from various units of the Force and from the Navy's Force Support.
In addition, Spain has contributed various naval capabilities throughout the period of this rotation. The frigate "Almirante Juan de Borbón" has an SH60B "Toro" helicopter and an aircraft controller at sea from the Navy's Aircraft Fleet, an Operational Security Team from the Marine Infantry Force and a Health Officer.
Likewise, from 6 January to 7 March, the ship "Cantabria" was integrated into the group, being the only logistic ship of the force for more than a month. During its integration, it also had an Operational Security Team of the Marine Infantry Force.
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT
The frigate "Almirante Juan de Borbón" has been a key part of the grouping with its presence and deterrence in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. This unit has been the only one integrated into the grouping since the beginning of the 24-1 rotation, demonstrating Spain's commitment to NATO in this maritime area, which is vital for the Alliance in the current strategic scenario.
SNMG-1, under Spanish command and comprising five ships from five nations, achieved the historic milestone of being the first NATO force to enter Sweden after the country's accession as a full member of the Alliance.
In addition to Operation Brilliant Shield, the grouping played a major role in the Steadfast Defender 24 exercise, NATO's largest exercise in decades. The maritime part of the exercise began in late January and ended in mid-March, with the frigate "Almirante Juan de Borbón" being the only NATO unit to participate in the exercise during the entire period. The exercise took place in waters to the south and east of the United Kingdom and then moved to northern Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle, where the main part of the exercise took place.
The group also took part in the anti-submarine exercise "Dynamic Mongoose 24" from 29 April to 11 May, which was conducted in the waters between Iceland and Norway. Recently, the grouping has just completed its participation in the "BALTOPS 24" exercise, which took place from 7 to 22 June in the waters of the Baltic Sea.
The frigate "Almirante Juan de Borbón" is scheduled to call at the Ferrol Arsenal on 8 July to begin the process of handing over command of the SNMG-1 from Spain to Denmark, after more than 180 days of deployment, 22,000 miles sailed and 9 countries visited contributing to defence diplomacy.
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