Spain dispatch Aegis frigate to Norfolk to test-fire SM-2, ESSM

Spanish F100-class Aegis frigate Cristóbal Colón is underway for Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia for the vessel’s Combat System Ship Qualification Trials.

F105 Cristobal Colon
By Javier Pérez (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The one and a half month certification testing will see the warship firing SM-2 and Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles off Wallops Island.

The ship and its crew left Spain on Jun. 12 and will return home on Aug. 2.