“Missile shield” ship in Palma

After its aircraft carriers, the cruiser is one of the most powerful warships in the United States Navy and is surrounded by tight security in the Port of Palma.

The Monterey has called into the capital for a brief rest during a training exercise, but her future could be in Spain.

It has been widely reported that the guided-missile cruiser, which is named for the Battle of Monterey at Monterrey, Nuevo León during the Mexican-American War in 1846, is going to form part of the new European missile defense system which was only officially announced this week.

On Wednesday, the United States and Spain announced an agreement to base U.S. anti-missile warships at Rota on the Spanish coast, strengthening U.S.-led plans for a NATO-wide missile defense system in Europe. The deal is part of U.S. President Barack Obama's so-called phased adaptive approach to missile defense, which calls for an initial deployment of ship-based anti-ballistic missiles in the Mediterranean followed by ground-based systems in Romania, Poland and Turkey.

The system is expected to start operating from next year and become fully operational in 2018.
It is designed to protect European NATO states and the United States from missile attack from countries such as Iran and North Korea, which are developing longer-range missiles.

The near 10'000 ton warship would be ideally suited to the task as she is equipped with a sophisticated Aegis radar system capable of short and medium range ballistic defense.

The ship's current job on its six month deployment is testing out a variety of scenarios that could affect other ships sent to protect Europe in the future.

Other ships capable of ballistic missile defense have been deployed by the U.S. to the Mediterranean since 2009, but the Monterey is the first to go under the new defense plan known as the European Phased Adaptive Approach.

The warship's motto is “Rough In Battle And Ready In Peace.”