Thursday Frigate Blogging
By 
Meet SPS Almirante Juan de Bourbon. She is 6200 ton AEGIS frigate (more of a destroyer, really), capable of 29 knots and armed with SM-2 Standard surface-to-air missiles, Harpoon surface-to-surface missiles, and anti-submarine torpedos. SPS Almirante Juan de Bourbon (named after King Juan Carlos’ father) was one of the first NATO warships to enter the Black Sea following the South Ossetia War. If Georgia were admitted to NATO (as Senator McCain has suggested), and if Russia nevertheless attacked Georgia, SPS Almirante Juan de Bourbon would be expected to shoot down Russian aircraft, sink Russian ships and submarines, and endure Russian attacks.
Spain’s prime minister, however, should not expect an invitation to John McCain’s White House.
…via Juan Cole, it appears that it was Spanish intelligence that blew the whistle on the inaccurate airstrike that killed 92 civilians in Afghanistan a couple of weeks ago. Unrelated, I’m sure.