The frigate "Cristóbal Colón" (Spanish Navy).

The 'Cristóbal Colón' frigate, the most modern of the five Spanish Navy frigates with the AEGIS combat system, is currently on the east coast of the US with the aim of conducting various tests to certify its combat system. The frigate left Ferrol on June 12 and after an intense period of several weeks of preparation both at sea and at Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia (USA) has successfully completed the Standar (SM-2) and Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM) missile launches during the development of three missile defence exercises in the operational rating of its combat system (CSSQT).

To carry out this certification, tests have been conducted called Combat System Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT), which examine the ship's combat system in the areas of Command and Control, Anti-Air War and Anti-missile Defense, as well as check that the services, equipment and systems can perform the operational function for which they have been designed and installed. The final CSSQT test consisted of the launch of Standard (SM-2) and Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM) missiles during the development of three missile defence exercises. The main feature of these missiles is their ability to beat state-of-the-art complex targets. The missile launch coincided with the presence on board of the acting Minister of Defense Pedro Morenés Eulate accompanied by the Chief of Staff of the Jaime Muñoz Delgado Navy and Díaz del Río.

The tests took place at the site of Wallops Island, off the coast of Virginia, along with the American destroyer USS 'Arleigh Burke' (DDG-51), the first of its kind, to which it gives name. Some of these ships are now based in Rota (Cadiz) and are part of the NATO missile shield. The operational certification of the frigate 'Cristóbal Colón' is a milestone not only for the Navy, but also for the entire national military naval industry because, in addition to being the most modern frigate in the class F-100, it is the one that has a higher percentage of the participation of the national industry in its design and construction.