TheSpanish Air and Space Force (Spanish:Ejército del Aire y del Espacio,lit. 'Army of the Air and Space') is theaerial andspace warfare branch of theSpanish Armed Forces.
Hot air balloons have been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with the help ofAlfredo Kindelán,Leonardo Torres Quevedo directed the construction of the first Spanishdirigible in the Army Military Aerostatics Service, created in 1896 and located inGuadalajara. The new airship was completed successfully in 1908 and, named 'Torres Quevedo', made numerous test and exhibition flights.[3]
TheSpanish Army's air arm, however, took off formally in 1909 when ColonelPedro Vives Vich and Captain Alfredo Kindelán made an official trip to different European cities to check the potential of introducing airships andairplanes in the Spanish Armed Forces. One year later a Royal decree established the National Aviation School (Escuela Nacional de Aviación (civil)) inGetafe, nearMadrid, under theMinistry of Public Works and Transport (Ministerio de Fomento).
The established institution became militarized under the nameAeronáutica Española when Colonel Pedro Vives was chosen to lead it as director of theAeronáutica Militar, Military Aeronautics, the name of the air arm of theSpanish Army. Captain Alfredo Kindelán was named Chief of Aviation,Jefe de Aviación.[4]
On 17 December 1913, during the war withMorocco, a Spanish expeditionary squadron of theAeronáutica Española became the first organized military air unit to see combat during the first systematic bombing in history by droppingaerial bombs from aLohnerFlecha (Arrow) airplane on the plain of Ben Karrix in Morocco.[4][5] During the years that followed, most of the military activity of the Spanish Air Force would take place in Northern Morocco.
In 1915 Spain's first seaplane base was opened atLos Alcázares on the Mar Menor in the Murcia region and Alfredo Kindelán was named Military Aeronautics Director, displacing Pedro Vives. The Catalan Flying School was established inCan Tunis,Barcelona the following year and Getafe Aerodrome became a full-fledged military air base. In 1919 GeneralFrancisco Echagüe replaced Kindelán as leader of theAeronáutica Española.
In 1920 twoNieuport 80 and oneCaudron G.3 were first painted with squadron identification numbers and the Spanish Air Forceroundel. Shortly thereafter theAeronáutica Naval, the air branch of theSpanish Navy, already established through a Royal decree four years earlier, became functional inEl Prat, in the same location as present-dayBarcelona Airport.[6]
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In 1921, following theSpanish defeat at Annual, known asDesastre de Annual in Spain, the Zeluán Aerodrome was taken over by theRif army and another aerodrome was built atNador. Lieutenant Colonel Kindelán was namedJefe Superior de Aeronáutica, becoming chief-commander of the air force in 1926, at the time whenSpanish Morocco was retaken and theRif War ended.
In 1926 a crew of Spanish aviators, that includedRamón Franco,Julio Ruiz de Alda,Juan Manuel Duran andPablo Rada, completed the first Trans-Atlantic flight between Spain and South America in January 1926 on thePlus Ultra. That same year, pilots González Gallarza, Joaquín Loriga Taboada and Rafael Martínez Esteve completed the first flight between Spain and the Philippines, in just one month. The expedition was flown with twoBreguet 19 and known as theEscuadrilla Elcano or "Elcano Squadron".
In 1930 the Aeronaval Base inSan Javier was established and in the same year a pro-Republican revolt in theCuatro Vientos military aerodrome near Madrid was quashed. After the proclamation of theSecond Spanish Republic in 1931, GeneralLuis Lombarte Serrano replaced Kindelán as chief-commander of the air force, but he would be quickly succeeded by CommanderRamón Franco, younger brother of later dictatorFrancisco Franco. CaptainCipriano Rodríguez Díaz and LieutenantCarlos de Haya González flew non-stop toEquatorial Guinea, then a Spanish colonial outpost. Under Capitan Warlelacadastral surveys of Spain were carried out using modern methods ofaerial photography in 1933. The following year Spanish engineerJuan de la Cierva took off and landed onseaplane carrier Dédalo with hisautogyro C-30P. In 1934 CommanderEduardo Sáenz de Buruaga became new chief-commander of the air force.
Following a Government decree dated 2d October 1935, the Dirección General de Aeronáutica was placed under the authority of the War Ministry,Ministerio de la Guerra, instead of under thePresidencia del Gobierno, following which in 1936 the Air Force regional units became restructured. Accordingly, theSpanish Navy-basedEscuadra model was replaced byRegión Militardivisions which are still operative today.[7]
After the military rebellion that triggered theSpanish Civil War, Spanish military aviation was divided into the Air Force of theSpanish republican government and theNational Aviation (Aviación Nacional), established by the rebel army.
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In July 1936, right after the coup, the first GermanJunkers Ju 52 and ItalianSavoia-Marchetti SM.81 arrived to help the rebels and theFiat CR.32 fighters began operating in theCórdoba front. In AugustHeinkel He 51 fighters were also deployed. These planes helped the rebel army to gain full control of the air, as did the German and Italian expeditionary forces, theCondor Legion and theAviazione Legionaria. At first, the Spanish Republican Air Force had the control of great swathes of Spanish territory using a motley selection of planes, but the unwavering help received byFrancisco Franco fromNazi Germany andFascist Italy reversed the situation. In September 1936 the Navy and Air Ministry,Ministerio de Marina y Aire, and the Air Undersecretariat,Subsecretaria del Aire were established under the command ofIndalecio Prieto as minister. The first serious air combat took place over Madrid when Italian bombers attacked the city in a massive bombing operation.[7] In the reorganization of the military in the areas of Spain that had remained loyal to the government, the new military structure of the republic merged theAeronáutica Militar and theAeronáutica Naval, the former being the air arm of theSpanish Republican Army and the latter thenaval aviation of theSpanish Republican Navy, and formed theSpanish Republican Air Force.[8] The Republican tricolor roundel was replaced by red bands for identification purposes, an insignia that had previously been used onAeronáutica Naval aircraft during the monarchy in the 1920s, before the time of the Republic.[9][10]
Many innovative, and often lethal, aeronautical bombing techniques were tested by Germany's Condor Legion forces on Spanish soil against the areas that remained loyal to the Republican Government with the permission of Generalísimo Franco. Nazi help to the Nationalist Air Force was part of Hitler'sGerman rearmament strategy and the techniques that German Nazi pilots learned in Spain would later be used inWorld War II. Despite the devastation and the human casualties caused by thebombing of theBasque city ofGuernica in 1937, known by theLuftwaffe asOperation Rügen, Hitler insisted that his longterm designs in Spain were peaceful. He called his strategy "Blumenkrieg" (Flower War), as evidenced in a January 1937 speech.[11] The international outcry over Guernica, however, would not bring about any increase in the military help provided to the beleaguered Spanish Republic. The pilots of the Spanish Republican Air Force, often young and poorly trained were unable to check the Nazi German and Fascist Italian modern-warfare attacks. Despite Franco's claim that both air forces were equal, and despite the help of foreign pilots, Spanish Republican planes were mostly obsolete and often in a bad state of disrepair. Even after acquiring more planes from the Soviet Union in the mid-stages of the war, the Spanish Republican Air Force was no longer able to control the Spanish skies nor match the power of the German and Italian expeditionary forces in specific combat situations.[12]
The Spanish Republican Air Force became practically irrelevant after theBattle of the Ebro in 1938 when the root of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces was broken.[13] Finally it was completely disbanded after the victory on April 1, 1939.
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The present Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire, or EdA) was officially established on 7 October 1939, after the end of theSpanish Civil War. The EdA was a successor to the Nationalist and Republican Air Forces.Spanish Republican colors disappeared and the black roundel of the planes was replaced by a yellow and red roundel. However, the black and whiteSaint Andrew's Cross (Spanish:Aspa de San Andrés)fin flash, the tail insignia of Franco's air force, as well as of theAviazione Legionaria ofFascist Italy and theCondor Legion ofNazi Germany, is still in use in the present-day Spanish Air Force.[14]
After the changes introduced at the beginning of Franco's regime the Air Regions and their Command centres were the following:
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TheBlue Squadron (Escuadrillas Azules) was an air unit that fought alongside theAxis Powers at the time of the Blue Division,Division Azul Spanish volunteerformation inWorld War II. TheEscuadrilla azul operated with the Luftwaffe on theEastern Front and took part in thebattle of Kursk. This squadron was the "15 Spanische Staffel"/JG 27Afrika of theVIII Fliegerkorps,Luftflotte 2.[15]
During the first years after World War II the Spanish Francoist Air Force consisted largely of German and Italian planes and copies of them. An interesting example was theHA-1112-M1LBuchón (Pouter), this was essentially a licensed production of theMesserschmitt Bf 109 re-engined with aRolls-Royce Merlin 500-45 for use in Spain.[16]
In March 1946 the first Spanish military paratroop unit, thePrimera Bandera de la Primera Legión de Tropas de Aviación, was established inAlcalá de Henares. It first saw action in theIfni War during 1957 and 1958.[17] Because of US Government objection to use airplanes manufactured in the US in her colonial struggles after World War II, Spain used at first old German aircraft, such as the T-2 (Junkers 52, nicknamed "Pava"), the B-2I (Heinkel 111, nicknamed "Pedro"), theC-4K (Spanish version of the Bf 109, nicknamed "Buchón"), and some others. Still,Grumman Albatross seaplanes andSikorsky H-19B helicopters were used in rescue operations.[18] This is why still now in present times, EdA maintains a policy of having jet fighters from two different origins, one first line fighter of North American origin, and one from French-European origin (F-4C Phantom /Mirage F1,Mirage III;EF-18A /Eurofighter Typhoon).[citation needed]
Although in sheer numbers the EdA was impressive, at the end of World War II technically it had become more or less obsolete due to the progress in aviation technology during the war. For budget reasons Spain actually kept many of the old German aircraft operative well into the 1950s and 1960s. As an example the lastJunkers Ju 52 used to operate in Escuadrón 721 trainingparachutists fromAlcantarilla Air Base nearMurcia, until well into the 1970s. The CASA 352 and the CASA 352L were developments built byCASA in the 1950s.[19]
Links were established in the 1950s with the United States. Spain received its first jets, like theF-86 Sabre andLockheed T-33 together with training and transport planes like theT-6 Texan,C-47 andC-54,[20] and theBeechcraft T-34 Mentor.[21] The first series of American jets was replaced in the 1960s by newer fighters like theF-104 Starfighter,F-4C Phantom andF-5 Freedom Fighter
After the death of dictator Franco in 1975 and the ensuingSpanish transition to democracy years, the organization and equipment of the Spanish Air Force was again modernised to prepare forSpain's membership ofNATO in 1982. Planes like theMirage III andMirage F1 were bought fromFrance and became the backbone of the Air Force during the 1970s and part of the 1980s. French fighters formed the air force's mainstay until the arrival of the AmericanF/A-18. Spanish F/A-18s participated in theBosnian War and theKosovo War underNATO command, based inAviano,Italy.[22] Assisted byUSAFF-16s, Spanish Air ForceEF-18As droppedlaser-guided bombs onBosnian Serb ammunition depots atPale, on25 and 26 May 1994.[23]
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The Spanish Air and Space Force is replacing older aircraft in the inventory with newer ones includingEurofighter Typhoon and the recently introducedAirbus A400M Atlas airlifter. Both are manufactured with Spanish participation;EADS CASA makes the Eurofighter's right wing and leading edge slats,[24] and participates in the testing and assembly of the airlifter.[25]
Unlike the air forces of most majorNATO member states, the Spanish Air and Space Force currentlydo not operate anyAEW&C aircraft.
Its aerobatic display team is thePatrulla Aguila, which flies theCASA C-101 Aviojet.[26] Its helicopter display team,Patrulla Aspa, flies theEurocopter EC-120 Colibrí.
In July 2014 the Spanish Air Force joined theEuropean Air Transport Command, headquartered atEindhoven Airbase in theNetherlands.[27]
TheSpanish Government announced in June 2022 that the Spanish Air Force would be renamed as the Spanish Air and Space Force.[28]
On January 9, 2024, the Space Command was formally established.[29]
The basic organization of the Air and Space Force is the following:
The main operational formation of the SAF is theala (wing), roughly equivalent to an army brigade. Anala is normally composed of threegrupos (groups, army regiment equivalents) - an operations group calledGrupo de Fuerzas Aéreas (Air Force Group, shortened toGrupo and followed by a numerical) including the aviation squadrons and a flight operations support squadron. An operations group is normally composed of two or threeescuadrones (squadrons), each one normally consisting of 18 to 24 aircraft. Thus, Ala 15, with its base inZaragoza Air Base, is formed by two squadrons with 18 F/A-18s each. Another group within the wing is theGrupo de Material, providing maintenance and repairs to the aircraft, their weapons and systems. TheGrupo de Apoyo completes the typical wing structure and it is the air base group, providing the functioning of the air base as a military installation. A variation of the wing structure is theAla 11 in Morón de la Frontera air base, which has not one, but two operational groups. TheGrupo 11 operates Eurofighter aircraft in the multi-mission fighter role, while theGrupo 22 operates P-3 Orion aircraft in the maritime patrol and ASW role and correspondingly there are two separate maintenance squadrons for the two aircraft types.[30]
Smaller operational units are the separate groups. They are also army regiment equivalents, but unlike the wings they are composite units, in which the operational aircraft, the maintenance and the air base squadrons report directly to the group. Such example is the47/o. Grupo Mixto de Fuerzas Aéreas (47th Air Force Composite Group) a mixed intelligence, electronic warfare and aerial navigation systems calibration unit at Torrejón de Ardoz air base.[31]
When an air base houses more than oneala or multiple separategrupos, the function of a lodger unit is provided by an air force installation unit (an army regiment equivalent) called Groupment of the ... Air Force Base (Agrupación de la Base Aérea de ...). Three such examples are theAgrupación de la Base Aérea de Torrejon,[32] theAgrupación de la Base Aérea de Cuatro Vientos[33] and theAgrupación de la Base Aérea de Zaragoza.[34] Anagrupación could be responsible for the support of air force operations at more than one airfield (military or civilian). As an example the Groupment of the Zaragoza Air Force Base is responsible for the mixed use military / civilian airfields of Zaragoza, Logroño-Agoncillo and Huesca-Pirineos. An air force base, which does not house flying units is classified as an Acuartelamiento Aéreo (roughly translated as Air Force Installation in English, one such example is theAcuartelamiento Aéreo Bardenas, supporting the Bardenas Reales training range) and an airfield, which does not house permanently flying units is classified as anAerodromo Militar (military airfield), such as theAerodromo Militar de Pollensa.
| Aircraft | Image | Origin | Type | Variant | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat aircraft | ||||||
| Eurofighter Typhoon | .jpg) |  Italy | swingrole | Tranche 4 | 20 | Order underProject Halcon I[38] (delivery 2026 to 2030) |
| Tranche 4+ | 25 | Order underProject Halcon II[74] | ||||
| FCAS | .jpg) |  France | swingrole,stealth | [75] | ||
| Maritime patrol | ||||||
| CASA C-295 | .JPG) |  Spain | Maritime surveillance | C295 MSA | 8 | [41] |
| maritime patrol | C295 MPA | 8 | ||||
| Aerial refueling | ||||||
| Airbus A330 MRTT | .jpg) | Spain | transport /tanker | 2 | Ex-Iberia A330 to be converted[76] | |
| Aerial firefighting | ||||||
| DHC-515 (Viking Air) | .jpg) |  Canada | water bomber | 7 | [54] | |
| UAV | ||||||
| Eurodrone | _(cropped).jpg) | France | MALE UAV | 12 | 4 systems[77] | |
| SIRTAP | Spain | ISR | 27 | [78] | ||
| Aircraft | Image | Origin | Type | Variant | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trainer aircraft | ||||||
| TAI Hürjet | .jpg) |  Turkey | lead-in fighter training | 45[79] | Replacement ofNorthrop F-5BM.[80] Spain and Turkey forge strategic alliance for co-production of the Hürjet Advanced Jet Trainer[81] | |
| Name | Variant | Image | Origin | Type | Range | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air defence | |||||||
| NASAMS "National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System" | NASAMS-2+ |  |  Norway | Short range air defence fire unit | — | 0 (+1) | [90][91][91] 1 fire unit on order by the air force to replace theSpada 2000 assigned to the Air Deployment Support Squadron.[90][91] 4 units previously purchased for the Army in 2003. Equipment:
|
| Aspide | Spada 2000 |  (Illustration) | Italy | DeployableSHORAD for air base protection | — | Unknown | [94] Equipment:
|
| Mistral | Mistral-3 mobile launcher | .jpg) | France | V/SHORAD | — | Unknown | [95][96][97][98] Equipment:
|
| Air surveillance - fixed radars | |||||||
| Alenia RAT-31 [es] | RAT-31 SL/T |  (Illustration) | Italy | S-band (IEEE),early warming radar | 470 km (290 mi) | 4 | [99][100] Being replaced by the Lanza 3D LRR at the EVA 2, 5, 12 and 22. |
| Lanza 3D [es] | Lanza 3D LRR Long Range Radar |  (Illustration) | Spain | Modular pulsed,3D,L-band (IEEE),early warming radar | 474 km (295 mi) | 4 | [101][102][103] Ordered in 2021 for the air surveillance.[104] It will equip the EVA 2, 5, 12 and 22.[99] It succeeds to theAlenia Marconi Systems radars. |
| Air surveillance - mobile radars | |||||||
| AN/TPS-43 | TPS-43M | _(cropped).jpg) |  United States | 3D,S-band (IEEE),early warming radar | 450 km (280 mi) | 1 | [105][106][107] The radar has been in service sinve 2001.[107] The air force transports the radar with aMercedes Atego. |
| Lanza 3D [es] | Lanza T / LTR-25 [es] Long-range Tactical Radar |  (Illustration) | Spain | Modular pulsed,3D,L-band (IEEE),early warming radar | 460 km (290 mi) | 1 | [102][108] Ordered in 2021 for the air surveillance.[104] It succeeds to theAlenia Marconi Systems radars. |
| Precision approach radar | |||||||
| GCA 2000 | GCA 2000T |  | Spain | Mobileprecision approach radar | — | 2 | [109] Mobile precision approach radar purchased in 2008. It is used on the Albacete and Morón air bases. |
| Puesto móvil de mando onIveco Pegaso M-250 | — | _(15538667505).jpg) | Italy | Mobile ATC | — | — | Operated by theUnidad Militar de Emergencias (UME).[110] |
| Name | Image | Origin | Type | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighting trucks | |||||
| Iveco MagirusDragon X6 ARFF 6×6 chassis | .JPG) |  Germany | Airport crash tender | — | Chassis from Iveco, firefighting tender made by Magirus.[111] |
| Protec-Fire Iturri Toro 6×6 chassis | — | Spain | Airport crash tender | — | 2 ordered in 2020.[112][113] |
| Protec-Fire Iturri Toro VIM 61 MTEC 4×4 chassis | _(cropped).jpg) | Spain | Airport crash tender | — | [114][115] |
| Protec-Fire 6×6 chassis | _(cropped).jpg) | Spain | Airport crash tender | — | Protec-Fire airport trender.[111][116] |
| Protec-Fire Iturri Toro 4×4 chassis | — | — | Airport crash tender | — | Desert camo painting.[117] |
| TBD | — | — | Airport crash tender | 0 | [118] Budget of close to €40 million approved in August 2025 for a framework agreement to purchase new fire tenders. |
| Ambulances | |||||
| URO Vamtac ambulance |  | Spain | Armoured ambulance | 1 | [119] Purchased for use in Afghanistan.[120] |
| Iveco Daily 4×4 SVA Soporte Vital Avanzado | — | Italy | Military ambulance | — | [121] Some for the air force.[122] |
| Mercedes Sprinter 4×4 | — | Germany | Civilian ambulance | 5 | Ordered to Stil Conversion in 2021, delivered in 2022.[123] |
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The Spanish Air and Space Force has its own alphanumeric system for identifying aircraft. This forms a prefix to the airframe serial number, usually marked on the tail. The letter or letters, correspond to the use given. Thus, C meanscazabombardero (fighter bomber); A,ataque (attack); P,patrulla (patrol); T,transporte (transport); E,enseñanza (training); D, search and rescue; H, helicopter; K, tanker; V, Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL); and U, utility. An example would be that the F/A-18 with "C.15-08" on the tail is the fifteenth type of fighter that arrived in the Spanish Air and Space Force (the Eurofighter is the C.16) and is the eighth example of this type to enter the SAF. On the nose or fuselage the aircraft has a numeral specific to the unit in which it is based.
Variants of planes in service, for example two-seater versions or tanker versions of transports planes, add another letter to differentiate their function, and have their own sequence of serial numbers separate from the primary versions. Example: "CE.15-02" will be the second F/A-18 two-seater (Fighter Trainer) delivered to the SAF. In addition, the aircraft used by the Spanish Air and Space Force usually carry a code consisting of one or two digits followed by a dash and two numbers, painted on the nose or fuselage. The first number corresponds to the unit to which they belong, and the second the order in which they entered service. Example: the fourth F/A-18 arriving at Ala 12 will have on the nose the code "12-04". Those codes do change when the aircraft is re-allocated to a different unit.[citation needed]
| NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Air and Space Force[124] | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | |||||||||||||
| Capitán general | General del Aire | Teniente general | General de división | General de brigada | Coronel | Teniente coronel | Comandante | Capitán | Teniente | Alférez | ||||||||||||||
| NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Air and Space Force[124] | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Suboficial mayor | Subteniente | Brigada | Sargento primero | Sargento | Cabo mayor | Cabo primero | Cabo | Soldado de primera | Soldado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Africa |
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| Americas |
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| Asia |
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| Europe |
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| Oceania | |||||||||||||
| World | |||||||||||||
| Former | |||||||||||||
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Authority control databases: National |
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