ARV Almirante García (F-26)

Venezuela ordered six Lupo-class frigates from CNR in 1975 as a replacement for older warships. These units were commissioned between 1980 and 1982. In general terms, their appearance and equipment is similar to those built for Peru, except for some differences in electronics and missiles. The first two ships, ARV Mariscal Sucre (F-21) and ARV Almirante Brión (F-22) were upgraded by Ingalls Shipbuilding over a four years period (1998–2002). The other ships in Venezuelan service were expected to undergo an austere version of this upgrade, but three ships were eventually taken out of service.

Almirante García was laid down on 21 August 1979 and launched on 4 October 1980 by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico at Riva Trigoso. She was commissioned on 30 July 1982.

Over the years she has participated in multiple important naval exercises and has been the flagship of the multinational UNITAS exercise.

With the change of name of the Venezuelan naval force, the unit prefix changed from ARV (Armada de la República de Venezuela) to AB (Armada Bolivariana).[1]

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  ARV Almirante García fires an Aspide missile on 1 June 1984.
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  ARV Almirante García, USS MacDonough and USS Thorn on 3 July 1984.
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  ARV Almirante García and ARV General Salóm in dry dock repair on 24 July 2012.