American warship on Malta visit

The sight of an American military ship in Grand Harbour may have spooked many in the wake of Russia’s warmongering in Ukraine but the vessel is only here for supplies.

The USS Ross berthed in Malta on Saturday, marking its first visit in almost 18 years.

It is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer that forms part of the US navy’s 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Under the command of Captain Scott Jones, it operates out of a naval base in Rota, Spain.

Jones gave Maltese journalists a tour of the ship on Monday. Asked by MaltaToday how the security scenario in the Mediterranean has changed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Jones said he expected everyone to operate in accordance with international law.

“USS Ross operates in international waters and countries around the world are authorised to operate in international waters. We expect everybody to operate in accordance with the international law while we see them at sea,” Jones said.

Asked whether the USS Ross would be heading towards the Black Sea, Jones refrained from commenting.  “As a matter of longstanding policy we don’t talk about current or future operations.”

Jones said the USS Ross was tasked to support American and NATO interests in the Mediterranean.

The ship is equipped to launch surface to air missiles, anti-ship missiles and surface to ground Tomahawk cruise missiles. Jones explained how these weapon systems can do anything from the destruction of a target to the launching of sensors into orbit. They could also destroy submarines.

The vessel also has a helicopter landing pad on the rear, which can accommodate a wide variety of rotor blade aircraft from the hefty Sea Dragon and Super Stallions to the lightweight TH-6B.

Aside from the electronic warfare equipment and missile systems the Ross also carries the Phalanx Close-In Weapons System, which is a 20mm rotating barrel Vulcan cannon with an extremely high rate of fire designed to take out incoming missiles, small boats and aircraft.

The main gun on the Ross is the five-inch rapid-fire deck gun situated on the bow. It can store up to 20, 5-inch shells which leave the barrel at 2,500 feet per second and can have a maximum range of almost 40km. Besides these heavy weapons the ship's quarterdeck also has a number of hardpoints for small arms like the .308 caliber M240 general purpose machine gun and the .50 caliber M2 browning heavy machine gun.