Algeria's MEKOs have Umkhonto, not ESSM, and Umkhonto is a strictly point-defense missile. The Halifaxes have Giraffe and ESSM, yes, but they primarily use it for surface search, with air search being taken up the SMART-S that's also fitted. And I wouldn't consider the RBS-23 a medium-range missile for naval use, either, not with a range of 20 kilometers.
Only the corvettes are comboing a medium-range SAM system with Sea Giraffe, and the Pohjannmaas are using the much larger, more advanced, and more powerful AESA Giraffe 4A. Giraffe 4A is in a size and cost category much closer to SPY-6, albeit with only a single emitter for an overall lighter and cheaper installation.
One ship is not terribly strong evidence, especially for a Gulf State due to the track record of Gulf States in buying ships that look impressive but have issues under the hood.
And further, for USN purposes just ESSM doesn't cut it; they wanted SM-2 from the start and that demands a better radar than even Giraffe 4A, much like how the FREMMs the design is based on carried ASTER 30. Like, it really must be pointed out that it's not just the US putting area air defense on a GP frigate, most of Europe has jumped on board that train and the Indians are doing so as well.
Multiple navies, most notably Japan, use it for local defense, and a range of 50km should enable it to do so.
