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The Spanish Air Force (Spanish: Ejército del Aire; literally, "Army of the Air") is the air force of Spain. It is one of the 3 branches of the Spanish Armed Forces and has the mission of defending the sovereignty and independence of Spain, its territorial integrity and constitutional freedoms, within airspace of Spain and its territories as well as to maintain the international security in operations of peace and humanitarian help.
[edit] History
[edit] The beginningsAlthough Spanish military aviation started with a balloon force in 1896, April 10, 1910 is the date when the Spanish military aviation was formally formed by means of a Royal Decree. On November 5, 1913, during the war with Morocco, a Spanish expeditionary squadron became the first organized military air unit to see combat during the first organized bombing in history. [edit] The Spanish Civil War  During the Spanish Civil War, Spanish military aviation was divided into the Spanish Republic Air Forces (Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española-FARE), created by the republican government and the National Aviation (Aviación Nacional), created by the army in revolt. At first, the republican air forces had the control of the majority of the territory using the Soviet Polikarpov I-16, but the help received by Francisco Franco from Nazi Germany (Condor Legion) and Fascist Italy (Aviazione Legionaria) changed this. In July 1936, the first German Junkers Ju-52 and Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM-81 arrived. In August Fiat CR-32 and Heinkel He-51 fighters were also deployed. These planes helped the army in revolt to gain full control of the air. [edit] Post-Civil War The present Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire, or EdA) was not formed until October 7, 1939, at the end of the Spanish Civil War. The EdA was a successor to the Nationalist and Republican Air Forces. During World War II, one air section, the "Blue Squadron" (Escuadrilla Azul), operated alongside the Blue Division (Division Azul). The Blue Division was a Spanish volunteer group which fought alongside the Axis Powers on the Eastern Front. On March 18, 1946, the first Spanish paratroop unit was created. It participated in the Ifni War during 1957 and 1958. Links were established in the 1950s with the United States. Spain received its first jets, like the F-86 Sabre and Lockheed T-33 together with training and transport planes like the T-6 Texan, DC-3 and DC-4. This first age of jets was replaced in the 1960s by newer fighters like the F-104 Starfighter, F-4C Phantom and F-5 Freedom Fighter The organization and equipment of the Spanish Air Force was again modernised in the 1970s to prepare for Spain's membership of NATO in 1982. Planes like the Mirage III and Mirage F1 were bought from France and became the backbone of the Air Force during the 1970s and part of the 1980s until the arrival of the American F/A-18 which participated in the Bosnian War and the Kosovo War under NATO command, based in Aviano, Italy. The Spanish Air Force is replacing older aircraft in the inventory with newer ones including the recently introduced Eurofighter Typhoon and the Airbus A400M airlifter, both manufactured with Spanish participation. 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. [edit] Air BasesMain article: List of Spanish Air Force bases [edit] Order of Battle See Also Spanish Air Force Order of Battle [edit] Functional structureThe basic organization of the Air Force is the following:
[edit] Operative structureThe usual operative unit is the ALA (wing), composed by two or three ESCUADRONES (squadrons), each one of which is integrated by 18 to 24 airplanes. Thus, Ala 15, with base in Zaragoza Air Base, is formed by two squadrons with 18 F-18s each. [edit] Aircraft identificationThe Spanish Air 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 cazabombardero (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-18 with "C.15-08" on the tail is the fifteenth type of fighter that arrived in the Spanish Air 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-18 two-seater (Fighter Trainer) delivered to the SAF. In addition, the aircraft used by the Spanish Air 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-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. [edit] Officer rank insignia
[edit] Aircraft InventoryFurther information: List of aircraft of the Spanish Air Force  The Spanish Air Force operates a wide-ranging fleet of aircraft, from fighters to transport aircraft and passenger transports to helicopters. It maintains some 650 aircraft.[1][dead link] Today, the Spanish Air Force is a force smaller (almost 50% less) than when the previous generation of aircraft was in service , with an operating fleet reduced to about 650 aircraft as published in the Budget for 2009 and 27,000 troops, including 10,000 panels, more than 11,000 professional military troops and civilian personnel. The transport force role is taken by planes such as the C-130 Hercules and the CASA C-295. The Spanish Air Force also includes helicopters like the Cougar and the Colibri. 180 fighter aircraft are incorporated into 9 alas (wings) charged with different missions. Finally, the Spanish Air Force has a fleet of aircraft, including the CASA C-101 (manufactured in Spain), Beechcraft Bonanza and Enaer T-35C, to meet training requirements.[2] These air assets are supported by ground units and a sophisticated infrastructure[3] The "Future backbone" of the Spanish Air Force will be mainly composed of the new generation fighter, the Eurofighter Typhoon.[4]
[edit] On order 
[edit] Distinguished Spanish Air Aces
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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