Spanish and British navies ‘learning to integrate’ as frigate captain reveals role in defending carrier

A SPANISH naval captain has revealed how his frigate is tasked with protecting Britain’s HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier from attack whilst sailing through the Indo-Pacific.

Captain Jaime Muñoz-Delgado Pérez, commanding the frigate Méndez Núñez, explained that his vessel has been handed the crucial job of ‘close air defence’ for the British carrier as part of a joint exercise in naval cooperation.

The Spanish warship has been sailing with the British strike group since April and will continue until August – but this is far from a typical allied naval exercise. 

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Instead, the mission is testing whether crews from different nations can actually swap ships and commanders – a radical departure from traditional military cooperation.

“We don’t just want to be interoperable, we want to be totally interchangeable,” Captain Muñoz-Delgado told the Spanish Ministry of Defence. 

This means British commodores are now commanding operations from the Spanish frigate – something that would normally only happen with British vessels.

The Spanish captain explained that his F-100 class frigate was chosen for the air defence role because of its unique anti-missile capabilities. 

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“The ship has been entrusted with the close air defence of the British aircraft carrier,” he said, adding that the vessel has proven its reliability by maintaining constant operations at sea.

But the real innovation lies in how mixed crews are learning to operate each other’s equipment and follow different command structures. 

Spanish sailors are taking orders from British officers, whilst British personnel are working alongside Spanish systems and procedures.

The experiment has become even more complex as the strike group moves through the Indo-Pacific, picking up vessels from New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and Japan, whilst conducting joint exercises with navies from India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

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It is a UK-led military surveillance and deterrence mission conducted in the Gibraltar Strait and Eastern Atlantic, typically involving Royal Navy warships and aircraft.

Its primary aim is to monitor and disrupt suspected illegal activity, including smuggling and trafficking, in international waters near Gibraltar and the Western Mediterranean.

The Spanish frigate has also been fitted with new anti-drone systems – equipment that wasn’t part of its original design but has become essential as warfare evolves. 

These Spanish-made systems are being tested in real conditions alongside international partners.

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Captain Muñoz-Delgado admitted the deployment presents unique challenges, particularly when sailing through dangerous waters like the Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb strait, where the Spanish crew must simultaneously protect themselves and the British carrier from potential threats.

The five-month deployment requires his 200-strong crew to live in cramped conditions whilst operating in tropical heat, far from home. 

But for the captain, the biggest challenge remains ensuring Spanish sailors can seamlessly integrate with British operations whilst maintaining their own ship’s combat readiness.

The mission represents a significant gamble for European navies – testing whether centuries of national military traditions can be set aside to create truly integrated international fleets capable of operating anywhere in the world.

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