Spanish Armed Forces
Spanish Armed Forces | |
---|---|
Fuerzas Armadas de España | |
Founded | 15th century |
Current form | 1978 |
Service branches | |
Headquarters | |
Foreign suppliers | France Germany United States Switzerland Canada Israel |
Annual imports | US$112 million (2014-2022)[5] |
Annual exports | US$752 million (2014-2022)[5] |
Related articles | |
History | Military history of Spain Warfare directory of Spain Wars involving Spain Battles involving Spain |
Ranks | Military ranks of Spain |
The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the
Spain is one of the most militarily powerful nations of the European Union (
History
After the long
During the 18th century the new
In the 20th century, the Spanish armed forces did not intervene in the
Recently, in the last decades of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st, Spanish troops have participated together with their Western allies in operations such as
Today]
Spain participated along with France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, the United States and Canada in the 2011 intervention against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, contributing a tanker, 4 F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets, a frigate, a submarine and a surveillance aircraft, along with logistical support from the Naval Station Rota and the Morón Air Base.
Spain has belonged to NATO since 1982. The decision was ratified in the 1986 referendum by the Spanish people. The conditions were the reduction of American military bases, non-integration of Spain in the military structure of NATO, and the prohibition of introducing nuclear weapons in Spain.
Current missions
As of June 2017, 3,093 soldiers of the Spanish Armed Forces and the Civil Guard are part of the nineteen operations where Spain has an active role.[6]
According to the National Security Department of Spain (DSN), these are the current missions of the armed forces and civil guard: [6]
- Missions with the European Union
- EUTM Mali(2013–present): Advisory mission in the security and training sector of the Malian National Army. 130 deployed military personnel.
- EUTM CAR (2016–present): Training mission of the Armed Forces of the Government of the Central African Republic. The Eurocorps is in charge of carrying out this mission. 19 military deployed.
- UN and the African Union. 16 military deployed.
- Operation Atalanta (2008–present): Mission to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean as well as protection of the UN food program. 338 deployed military.
- EUFOR ALTHEA BOSNIA(2004–present): Advisory mission to the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 3 military deployed.
- trafficking in human beings and prevention of loss of life in the Mediterranean. 261 deployed military personnel.
- Missions with NATO
- Operation Sea Guardian (2016–present): Mission to fight against terrorism in the Mediterranean. 119 military deployed.
- SNMCMG2: NATO first-responder permanent naval units. 251 deployed military personnel.
- Baltic Air Policing (2004–present): Mission to protect the airspace of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 128 deployed military personnel.
- Enhanced Forward Presence (2017–present): Mission of presence of NATO in the Baltic Sea region following the annexation of Crimea by Russia. 310 military deployed.
- Operation Active Fence (2015–present): Mission to reinforce Turkey's air defense against the threat of ballistic missiles from Syria. 149 deployed military personnel.
- Missions with UN
- UNIFIL(2006–present): Peacekeeping Monitoring Mission between Lebanon and Israel. 620 soldiers and civil guards deployed.
- UN COLOMBIA (2016–present): Mission of observers of the peace process in Colombia. 14 deployed military personnel.
- Coalition against Daesh
- Daesh. 463 soldiers and civil guards deployed.
- Security cooperation with France
- Support for Mali-Senegal (2013–present): Military support to France to facilitate air transport of French and EU operations in Mali and Sahel. 61 military deployed.
- Support for the Central African Republic (2013–present): Military support for France and the EU to facilitate air transport in its operations. 45 military deployed.
- National missions of cooperation with Senegal and Cape Verde
- Support for Senegal (2016–present): Cooperative security activities with other countries. 34 deployed military personnel.
- Support for Cape Verde (2016–present): Cooperative security activities with other countries. 59 deployed military personnel.
The Spanish Armed Forces also participated in the last few years in other missions, above all humanitarian and observation: in Albania in 1999, Mozambique in 2000, Republic of Macedonia in 2001, Haiti in 2004 and Indonesia in 2005. In 2006, Spain participated in Darfur, Sudan by sending observers, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Spain also participated in the Iraq War between 2003 and 2004, in Gabon and in Senegal to safeguard maritime traffic in the Horn of Africa (with 33 Civil Guards and national police officers, two patrol vessels and a helicopter).[7] In 2015, 46 UME soldiers and 12 Civil Guards of the High Mountain Group went to help and rescue in the Nepal earthquake, along with six dogs, three scientific police and a Boeing 707 of supplies transport of the Air and Space Force.[8][9]
The cost of these missions abroad amounts to approximately 800 million euros per year.[10]
Command structure
The
The
The Minister of defense is in charge of running the
The
The structure, and incumbents as of 2021[update], are:
- King of Spain, Felipe VI.
- Pedro Sánchez.
- Minister of Defence: Margarita Robles.
- Teodoro E. López Calderón.
- The Chiefs of Staff of the branches:
- Army General Amador Fernando Enseñat y Berea.
- Chief of Staff of the Navy: Admiral General Antonio Martorell Lacave.
- Javier Salto Martínez-Avial.
Branches
The Spanish armed forces are a professional force with a strength in 2017 of 121,900 active personnel and 4,770 reserve personnel. The country also has the 77,000 strong Civil Guard which comes under the control of the Ministry of defense in times of a national emergency. The Spanish defense budget is 5.71 billion euros (US$7.2 billion) a 1% increase for 2015. The increase comes because of security concerns in the country.[11]
Army
- Annex: Materials of the Spanish Army (Spanish wiki)
The Spanish Army consists of 15 active brigades and 6 military regions. Modern infantry have diverse capabilities and this is reflected in the varied roles assigned to them. There are four operational roles that infantry battalions can fulfil: air assault, armoured infantry, mechanised infantry, and light role infantry.
Under the command of the Spanish Admiral Chief of Naval Staff, stationed in Madrid, the Spanish Navy has four area commands:
- Cantabrian Maritime Zone with its headquarters at Ferrolon the Atlantic coast
- Straits Maritime Zone with its headquarters at San Fernando near Cadiz
- Mediterranean Maritime Zone with its headquarters at Cartagena
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The current flagship of the Spanish Navy is the
-
Juan Carlos I
Marines
The Marines, in Spanish, Infanteria de Marina, are the marine infantry of the Spanish Navy, the oldest in the world. It has a strength of 5,000 troops divided into base defense forces and landing forces. One of the three base defense battalions is stationed with each of the Navy headquarters. "Groups" (midway between battalions and regiments) are stationed in Madrid and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The Tercio (fleet — regiment equivalent) is available for immediate embarkation and based out of San Fernando. Its principal weapons include light tanks, armored combat vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and SPIKE antitank missiles.
Air and Space Force
Spanish Air and Space Force currently has 10 fighter squadrons, each with 18-24 airplanes. The Air and Space Force also has 15 operational air bases around the country. The Air and Space Force operates a wide-ranging fleet of aircraft, from fighters to transport aircraft and passenger transports to helicopters. It maintains some 450 aircraft in total, of which around 130 are fighter aircraft (Eurofighter Typhoons and F-18 MLU). The Spanish Air and Space Force is replacing older aircraft in the inventory with newer ones including the recently introduced Eurofighter Typhoon and the Airbus A400M Atlas airlifter. Both are manufactured with Spanish participation; EADS CASA makes the Eurofighter's right wing and leading edge slats, and participates in the testing and assembly of the airlifter.[13] Its aerobatic display team is the Patrulla Aguila, which flies the CASA C-101 Aviojet.Its helicopter display team, Patrulla Aspa, flies the Eurocopter EC-120 Colibrí. In July 2014 the Spanish Air Force joined the European Air Transport Command, headquartered at Eindhoven Airbase in the Netherlands.[14]
Common Corps
The Common Corps are four corps that provide professional services to all the branches of the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard. The Common Corps were created in the 1980s to unify the specialist corps of the different branches for operational reasons. The Common Corps are:
- Military Legal Corps
- Military Comptroller Corps
- Military Medical Corps
- Military Band Corps
Royal Guard
The Royal Guard (Guardia Real) is an independent unit of the Spanish Armed Forces whose primary task is the military protection of the King of Spain and the Spanish royal family. It also protects visiting Heads of State.
The Royal Guard's history dates back to medieval times, the Corps of Gentlemen of the Chamber, the "Monteros de Espinosa", dating to 1006.
It currently has a strength of 1,900 troops, constituting a fully functional combat unit drawn from the ranks of all three branches of the Spanish Armed Forces: among others, a Marines company, a Paratroop company and an infantry company. Some units have served recently in Afghanistan and Bosnia.
Military Emergencies Unit
The Military Emergencies Unit (
In addition to headquarters staff (Unidad de Cuartel General, there are five emergency intervention battalions (Batallon de Intervención en Emergencias, BIEM), a support regiment (Regimiento de Apoyo a Emergencias) and an aerial group (Agrupación de Medios Aéreos).
It is responsible for providing disaster relief principally throughout Spain but also if necessary abroad. The activities including handling natural hazards such as floods and earthquakes, forest fires, chemical and nuclear accidents, and other emergency situations recognized as such by the Prime Minister of Spain.
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URO M3-24.14.
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Inflatable boat Zodiac Mark IV
Citations
- ^ "Real Decreto 177/2021, de 23 de marzo, por el que se modifica el Reglamento de retribuciones del personal de las Fuerzas Armadas, aprobado por el Real Decreto 1314/2005, de 4 de noviembre". boe.es. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ López-Fonseca, Óscar (2020-03-07). "Interior aumenta en 3.800 el número de policías y guardias civiles en dos años". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-06.
- ^ IISS 2020, p. 145.
- ^ a b "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2022" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. April 2023. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ a b "TIV of arms imports/exports data for Spain, 2014-2022". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 30 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Fuerzas Armadas españolas en misiones internacionales, Junio 2017". 2017. Archived from the original on June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ "Misiones en curso". April 9, 2017. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015.
- ^ "Medio centenar de militares españoles parten desde Jaca rumbo a Nepal". May 5, 2015. Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ "Medio centenar de militares españoles parten desde Jaca rumbo a Nepal". May 5, 2015. Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ "España gastó en 2016 más de 770 millones de euros en las misiones de las Fuerzas Armadas". Europa Press. 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ^ "Update: Spain to increase defence spending". janes.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- ^ "Military Budget 2012" (PDF). defensa.gov.es (in Spanish). p. 454. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
- ^ http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/press-release/detail/first-a400m-wings-delivered-to-final-assembly-line/news-browse/1/news-period/1175378400/2591999/archived/news-category/press_release/?tx_felogin_pi1%5Bforgot%5D=1[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Spain is now member of the EATC - Articles - EATC - European Air Transport Command". eatc-mil.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
References
- IISS (2020). The Military Balance 2020. Routledge. ISBN 978-0367466398.
Further reading
- Jane's defense Weekly, Country Survey: Spain, JDW 18 April 1992, p. 655-onwards
External links
- (in Spanish) Foro Militar General - Spanish Military forum