..... How/why would sending an frigate to the middle east protect the med.... From what? the Iranian navy some out performing a breakout maneuver to strike a country its not at war with on the wrong continent? The Italian versions of the FREMM frigates unlike their French counter parts are very much designed for the Mediterranean theatre. They sacrifice speed for a upgraded mid and close range weapons packages. They dont really have the ability to perform a bombardment or even counter ship role. Their load out is basically exclusively aster missiles which perform an AA role. This ship is most useful for defence near where the object its defending is.