Adm. Mark Ferguson, head of Naval Forces Europe, was invited to speak at the 2016 Surface Navy Association symposium and he told attendees that the four U.S. destroyers based in Rota, Spain have turning off radars and reducing communications while underway to better mask their location and profile.
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By U.S. Navy photo by Master at Arms Chief Anthony J. Sganga [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Ferguson said such practice was routine during the Cold War and now his forces are also operating almost constantly in some degree of emissions control.
“As I tell the [commanding officers] in Rota all the time, it’s not a decision of what you turn off anymore, it’s a decision of why you are turning something on. Why are turning that radar on? … It has spurred tremendous creativity.”