From the Navy Times: The Ross, Donald Cook and Porter, now based in Norfolk, Va., and the Carney, from Mayport, Fla., will be forward deployed to Spain by 2015, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Thursday.

“We welcome Spain’s partnership in stationing four U.S. Navy Aegis ships at Naval Station Rota,” Mabus said. “We have a long history of cooperation between our two countries and we have developed significant interoperability between our naval forces.”

Ross and Donald Cook will arrive in Rota in fiscal 2014, and Carney and Porter in fiscal 2015. . . .

The ships will support the European Phased Adaptive Approach for security in the region.  (photo: U.S. Navy)