Ejército Del Aire
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Spanish Air and Space Force () is the aerial and space warfare branch of the
Spanish Armed Forces The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Spanish ...
.


History


Early stages

Hot air balloons have been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with the help of Alfredo Kindelán,
Leonardo Torres Quevedo Leonardo Torres Quevedo (; 28 December 1852 – 18 December 1936) was a Spanish civil engineer, mathematician and inventor, known for his numerous engineering innovations, including Aerial tramway, aerial trams, airships, catamarans, and remote ...
directed the construction of the first Spanish dirigible in the Army Military Aerostatics Service, created in 1896 and located in
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
. The new airship was completed successfully in 1908 and, named 'Torres Quevedo', made numerous test and exhibition flights.Francisco A. González Redondo
''Leonardo Torres Quevedo, 1902–1908. The Foundations for 100 years of Airship designs''
In book: Proceedings of the 7th International Airship Convention, pp.1–12, Publisher: German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics (DGLR), October 2008.
The
Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...
's air arm, however, took off formally in 1909 when Colonel Pedro Vives Vich and Captain Alfredo Kindelán made an official trip to different European cities to check the potential of introducing airships and
airplane An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...
s in the Spanish Armed Forces. One year later a Royal decree established the National Aviation School () in Getafe, near
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (). The established institution became militarized under the name when Colonel Pedro Vives was chosen to lead it as director of the , Military Aeronautics, the name of the air arm of the
Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...
. Captain Alfredo Kindelán was named Chief of Aviation, .Ejército del Aire – 1913
On 17 December 1913, during the war with
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, a Spanish expeditionary squadron of the became the first organized military air unit to see combat during the first systematic bombing in history by dropping aerial bombs from a Lohner ''Flecha'' (Arrow) airplane on the plain of Ben Karrix in Morocco. 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 at Los 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 in Can Tunis,
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
the following year and Getafe Aerodrome became a full-fledged military air base. In 1919 General Francisco Echagüe replaced Kindelán as leader of the . In 1920 two Nieuport 80 and one Caudron G.3 were first painted with squadron identification numbers and the Spanish Air Force roundel. Shortly thereafter the , the air branch of the Spanish Navy, already established through a Royal decree four years earlier, became functional in El Prat, in the same location as present-day Barcelona Airport. In 1921, following the Spanish defeat at Annual, known as in Spain, the Zeluán Aerodrome was taken over by the Rif army and another aerodrome was built at Nador. Lieutenant Colonel Kindelán was named , becoming chief-commander of the air force in 1926, at the time when Spanish Morocco was retaken and the Rif War ended. In 1926 a crew of Spanish aviators, that included Ramón Franco, Julio Ruiz de Alda, Juan Manuel Duran and Pablo Rada, completed the first Trans-Atlantic flight between Spain and South America in January 1926 on the ''Plus 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 two Breguet 19 and known as the or "Elcano Squadron". In 1930 the Aeronaval Base in San Javier was established and in the same year a pro-Republican revolt in the Cuatro Vientos military aerodrome near Madrid was quashed. After the proclamation of the
Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...
in 1931, General Luis Lombarte Serrano replaced Kindelán as chief-commander of the air force, but he would be quickly succeeded by Commander Ramón Franco, younger brother of later dictator
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
. Captain Cipriano Rodríguez Díaz and Lieutenant Carlos de Haya González flew non-stop to
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...
, then a Spanish colonial outpost. Under Capitan Warlela
cadastral A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represente ...
surveys of Spain were carried out using modern methods of
aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...
in 1933. The following year Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva took off and landed on seaplane carrier Dédalo with his autogyro C-30P. In 1934 Commander Eduardo 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, , instead of under the , following which in 1936 the Air Force regional units became restructured. Accordingly, the Spanish Navy-based model was replaced by divisions which are still operative today.


Air warfare in the Spanish Civil War

After the military rebellion that triggered the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, Spanish military aviation was divided into the Air Force of the Spanish republican government and the National Aviation (), established by the rebel army. In July 1936, right after the coup, the first German Junkers Ju 52 and Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 arrived to help the rebels and the Fiat CR.32 fighters began operating in the Córdoba front. In August Heinkel 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, the Condor Legion and the Aviazione 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 by
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
from
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and
Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...
reversed the situation. In September 1936 the Navy and Air Ministry, , and the Air Undersecretariat, were established under the command of Indalecio Prieto as minister. The first serious air combat took place over Madrid when Italian bombers attacked the city in a massive bombing operation. 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 the and the , the former being the air arm of the Spanish Republican Army and the latter the
naval aviation Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of Military aviation, military air power by Navy, navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves ''navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seab ...
of the Spanish Republican Navy, and formed the Spanish Republican Air Force. The Republican tricolor roundel was replaced by red bands for identification purposes, an insignia that had previously been used on ''Aeronáutica Naval'' aircraft during the monarchy in the 1920s, before the time of the Republic. 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's German rearmament strategy and the techniques that German Nazi pilots learned in Spain would later be used in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Despite the devastation and the human casualties caused by the
bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
of the
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
city of Guernica in 1937, known by the
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
as Operation 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. 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. The Spanish Republican Air Force became practically irrelevant after the Battle of the Ebro in 1938 when the root of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces was broken. Finally it was completely disbanded after the victory on April 1, 1939.


Post-Civil War era

The present Spanish Air Force (, or EdA) was officially established on 7 October 1939, after the end of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. 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 white Saint Andrew's Cross () fin flash, the tail insignia of Franco's air force, as well as of the Aviazione Legionaria of
Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...
and the Condor Legion of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, is still in use in the present-day Spanish Air Force. After the changes introduced at the beginning of Franco's regime the Air Regions and their Command centres were the following: * 1st Air Region. Central. *2nd Air Region. Straits. * 3rd Air Region. East. * 4th Air Region. Pyrenees. *5th Air Region. Atlantic. * Balearic Islands Air Zone * Morocco Air Zone * Canary Islands and West Africa Air Zone The Blue Squadron () was an air unit that fought alongside the
Axis Powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
at the time of the Blue Division, '' Division Azul'' Spanish volunteer formation in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The operated with the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front and took part in the battle of Kursk. This squadron was the ""/ JG 27 ''Afrika'' of the VIII Fliegerkorps, Luftflotte 2. 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 the HA-1112-M1L ''Buchón'' ( Pouter), this was essentially a licensed production of the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...
re-engined with a
Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British Coolant#Liquids, liquid-cooled V12 engine, V-12 Reciprocating engine, piston aero engine of 27-litre (1,650 cu in) Engine displacement, capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce designed the engine an ...
500-45 for use in Spain. In March 1946 the first Spanish military paratroop unit, the , was established in
Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...
. It first saw action in the
Ifni War The Ifni War, sometimes called the Forgotten War (''la Guerra Olvidada'') in Spain, was a series of armed incursions into Spanish West Africa by Morocco, Moroccan insurgents that began in November 1957 and culminated with the abortive siege ...
during 1957 and 1958. 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"), the C-4K (Spanish version of the Bf 109, nicknamed "Buchón"), and some others. Still, Grumman Albatross seaplanes and Sikorsky H-19B helicopters were used in rescue operations. 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). 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 last Junkers Ju 52 used to operate in Escuadrón 721 training parachutists from Alcantarilla Air Base near Murcia, until well into the 1970s. The CASA 352 and the CASA 352L were developments built by CASA in the 1950s. Links were established in the 1950s with the United States. Spain received its first jets, like the
F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...
and Lockheed T-33 together with training and transport planes like the T-6 Texan, C-47 and C-54, and the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor. The first series of American jets was replaced in the 1960s by newer fighters like the F-104 Starfighter, F-4C Phantom and F-5 Freedom Fighter


Present times

After the death of dictator Franco in 1975 and the ensuing
Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...
years, the organization and equipment of the Spanish Air Force was again modernised to prepare for
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
's membership of
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
in 1982. Planes like the Mirage III and Mirage F1 were bought from
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
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 American F/A-18. Spanish F/A-18s participated in the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
and the Kosovo War under
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
command, based in Aviano,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Assisted by
USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
F-16s, Spanish Air Force EF-18As dropped
laser-guided bomb A laser-guided bomb (LGB) is a guided bomb that uses semi-active laser guidance to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than an unguided bomb. First developed by the United States during the Vietnam War, laser-guided bombs quickly pro ...
s on Bosnian Serb ammunition depots at Pale, on 25 and 26 May 1994. The Spanish Air and Space Force is replacing older aircraft in the inventory with newer ones including Eurofighter Typhoon and the recently introduced 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. Unlike the air forces of most major
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
member states, the Spanish Air and Space Force currently do not operate any AEW&C aircraft. 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 , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. The Spanish Government announced in June 2022 that the Spanish Air Force would be renamed as the Spanish Air and Space Force. On January 9, 2024, the Space Command was formally established.


Organization

The basic organization of the Air and Space Force is the following: * Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force (JEMAE) ** Air and Space Force Headquarters (CGEAE) in Madrid ** Combat Air Command (MACOM) at Torrejón Air Base ** General Air Command (MAGEN) in Madrid ** Canary Islands Air Command (MACAN) in Las Palmas ** Logistic Support command (MALOG) in Madrid ** Personnel Command (MAPER) in Madrid ** Economic Affairs Directorate (DAE) in Madrid


Force structure

The main operational formation of the SAF is the (
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
), roughly equivalent to an army brigade. An is normally composed of three (groups, army regiment equivalents) - an operations group called (Air Force Group, shortened to and followed by a numerical) including the aviation squadrons and a flight operations support squadron. An operations group is normally composed of two or three ( squadrons), each one normally consisting of 18 to 24 aircraft. Thus, Ala 15, with its base in Zaragoza Air Base, is formed by two squadrons with 18 F/A-18s each. Another group within the wing is the , providing maintenance and repairs to the aircraft, their weapons and systems. The 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 the in Morón de la Frontera air base, which has not one, but two operational groups. The operates Eurofighter aircraft in the multi-mission fighter role, while the 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. 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 the (47th Air Force Composite Group) a mixed intelligence, electronic warfare and aerial navigation systems calibration unit at Torrejón de Ardoz air base. When an air base houses more than one or multiple separate , 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 (). Three such examples are the , the and the . An 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 the , supporting the Bardenas Reales training range) and an airfield, which does not house permanently flying units is classified as an (military airfield), such as the .


Air bases

* Alcantarilla Air Base * Armilla Air Base * Cuatro Vientos Air Base * Gando Air Base * Getafe Air Base * Los Llanos Air Base * Matacán Air Base * Morón Air Base * San Javier Air Base * Santiago Air Base * Son San Joan Air Base * Talavera Air Base * Torrejón Air Base * Villanubla Air Base * Zaragoza Air Base


Defunct air bases

* Agoncillo Air Base ( FAMET base now) * Manises Air Base (Part of Valencia Airport) * Reus Air Base (Now as Reus Airport) * Villafría Air Base


Aircraft


Current inventory


Future aircraft types


Potential future order


Armament


Current inventory


Aircraft identification

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 means (fighter bomber); A, (attack); P, (patrol); T, (transport); E, (training); D, search and rescue; H, helicopter; K, tanker; V, Vertical Take Off and Landing (
VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can takeoff and landing, take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust- ...
); 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.


Ranks


Officers


Non-commissioned officers and enlisted


Spanish air aces


Spanish Civil War

* Joaquín García-Morato y Castaño * Julio Salvador Díaz-Benjumea * Manuel Vázquez Sagastizábal * Arístides García-López Rengel * Miguel Zambudio Martínez * Ángel Salas Larrazábal * Miguel García Pardo * Andrés García Calle * Manuel Aguirre López * Joaquín Velasco Fernández Nespral * Carlos Bayo Alessandri * Manuel Zarauza Clavero * Juan Lario * Javier Allende Isasi * Esteban Ibarreche Arriaga * Felipe del Rio Crespo * Emilio O'Connor Valdivielso * José Larios Fernández * José María Bravo Fernández-Hermosa * Leopoldo Morquillas Rubio


World War II

* Vicente Aldecoa Lecanda * Dámaso Arango López * Luis Azqueta Brunet * Vicente Beltrán * Fernando Bengoa Cremades * Mariano Cuadra Medina * Lorenzo Lucas Fernández Peña * José Ramón Gavilán Ponce de León * Antonio García Cano * Juan Lario Sánchez * José Luis Larrañaga * Ángel Salas Larrazábal * José Mateos Recio * Bernardo Meneses Orozco * Francisco Meroño Pellicer * José Pascual Santamaría * Fernando Sánchez Arjona Courtoy * Manuel Sánchez-Tabernero de Prada * Francisco Valiente Zárraga * Manuel Zarauza Claver


See also

* Aviazione Legionaria * Bombing of Guernica * Condor Legion * German rearmament * List of Lockheed F-104 Starfighter operators * Museum of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Madrid) * Patrulla Águila * Emblems of the Spanish Air and Space Force * Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem *
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
* Spanish Republican Air Force * Structure of the Spanish Air and Space Force


References


Bibliography

* *


External links


Home page of the Spanish Air and Space Force

Foro Militar General (Spanish military forum)
{{Authority control Military units and formations established in 1939 1939 establishments in Spain