US Navy USS Porter DDG 78 guided missile destroyer departs for its ninth Forward-Deployed Naval Forces-Europe.

According to information published by the U.S. Navy on January 14, 2021, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) of the U.S. Navy departed Naval Station Rota, Spain, on its ninth Forward-Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E) patrol, January 12, 2021.
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U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Porter DDG 78. (Picture source  U.S. Navy)

The USS Porter (DDG 78) is scheduled to work alongside regional partners in various training exercises and conduct maritime security operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.

USS Porter’s eight patrol, which spanned from April to July of 2020, included at-sea training with the Romanian Navy in the Black Sea; joint interoperability exercises with the Italian and French navies in the Mediterranean Sea; operations within a Surface Action Group with the Royal Navy in the High North and Barents Sea; passing exercises (PASSEXes) with the Tunisian Navy; exercise Sea Breeze 2020 with Ukrainian, Romanian, Turkish, Georgian, Bulgarian, and Spanish Navies; and a Black Sea protection operation with NATO and other U.S. European Command components that focused on both Joint and NATO interoperability.

USS Porter is one of four U.S. Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and assigned to Commander, Task Force 65 in support of NATO’s Integrated Air Missile Defense architecture. These FDNF-E ships have the flexibility to operate throughout the waters of Europe and Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arctic Circle, demonstrating their mastery of the maritime domain.

U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

The USS Porter (DDG 78) is an Arleigh Burke-class Flight II guided missile destroyer in service with the United States Navy. She was laid down on 2 December 1996, launched and christened on 12 November 1997, and commissioned 20 March 1999, in Port Canaveral, Florida.

The USS Porter Arleigh Burke-class has a full load displacement of 8,300 tons, is 154m (506 feet) in overall length, and has a 20 m (66 foot) beam. The ship is driven by two shafts powered by four General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines. Their maximum speed is in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) and they have a cruising range of 4,400 n. miles at 20 knots (8,100 km at 37 km/h). The ship complement is about 33 officers, 38 chief petty officers, and 210 enlisted personnel.

The USS Porter has the AEGIS air defense system with the SPY-1D phased array radar. She is armed with a 90-cell Vertical Launching System capable of storing and rapidly firing a mix of Standard, Tomahawk, and Vertically Launched ASROC (VLA) missiles for either Air Defense, Strike Warfare, or Anti-Submarine Warfare missions. Other armament includes the Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile, the 5"/54 naval gun with improvements that integrate it with the AEGIS weapon system, and the Phalanx Close-in Weapon System for self-defense.