Air Force, Land Forces and Navy of Spain
The only Spanish Air Force unit equipped with the NH90 TTH is the BHELMA III Battalion stationed at Aeropuerto de Agoncillo in northeastern Spain.
Spain, although not under direct threat of aggression from hostile neighbors, maintains a surprisingly strong force. It is worth noting that the Ground Forces (Ejército de Tierra), consisting of two divisions, are almost as strong as the German Ground Forces. 2021 75 officers, non-commissioned officers and professional soldiers serve in the Spanish Land Forces (822) as compulsory military service is currently suspended (but not abolished).
The Land Forces are headed by the General Headquarters of the Land Forces (Estado Mayor del Ejército de Tierra), headquartered in Madrid. The task of the headquarters includes planning the development of the Ground Forces, organizing and training forces in terms of equipment, training and readiness for use, as well as coordinating various organizational and training projects. The formed forces are placed at the disposal of the operational commands, which direct their use. The staff consists of an administrative secretariat, a planning department, an operations and logistics department, and smaller independent departments. One of the most important divisions of the headquarters is the chief of communications and ICT systems, responsible for maintaining IT networks and communications in the Ground Forces, as well as mapping and providing the necessary information.
Spain planned to purchase 104 NH90s, including 48 for the Army Aviation. Due to the financial crisis, the order was limited to 16 copies. Only now there is talk of acquiring more NH90.
The Ground Forces Command (Fuerza Terrestre del Ejército de Tierra de España), located in Seville, is responsible for the operational command of the Land Forces. It was to this command that the battle formations of the Spanish ground forces, grouped in two divisions, were subordinated: División "Castillejos" in Huesca near the border with France through the Pyrenees, and División "San Marcial" in Burgos, in northern Spain, ca. 120 km from Bilbao. In addition to them, Zaragoza also has the independent Regimiento de Caballería “España” No. 11, which has two reconnaissance battalions in VEC-M1 wheeled reconnaissance vehicles and Centauro combat support vehicles.
The Castillejos division consists of four brigades. Rey Alfonso XIII Brigade II de La Legion is a light mechanized brigade in armored personnel carriers. It consists of: Grupo de Caballería Ligero Acorazado support battalion "Reyes Católicos" II de La Legion with Centauro combat support vehicles and wheeled reconnaissance vehicles VEC-M1, two-battalion motorized infantry regiment Tercio "Don Juan de Austria" 3º de La Legion on Wheeled armored personnel carriers BMR-M1, Bandera's Millan Astray X/4 Motorized Infantry Regiment on RG-31 Nyala patrol vehicles, Grupo de Artillería de Campaña II de La Legion towed artillery squadron with L-118A1 105mm howitzers and Bandera de Zapadores II de Sapper Battalion La Legion. The other, Brigada "Almogávares" VI de Paracaidistas, is an airborne brigade. It consists of the two-battalion parachute regiment Regimiento de Infantería "Nápoles" No. 4, de Paracaidistas, the motorized battalion Bandera de Infantería Protegida "Ortiz de Zárate" III (RG-31 Nyala), the support battalion Regimiento de Caballería "Lusitania". n. (Centauro and VEC-M8), the Grupo de Artillería de Campaña Paracaidista VI light artillery squadron and the Batallón de Zapadores Paracaidistas VI airborne combat engineer battalion. The third of the brigades, Brigada "Galicia" VII, has: Grupo de Caballería Ligero Acorazado support battalion "Santiago" I/1 (Centauro and VEC-M12), Regimiento de Infantería "Principe" two-battalion mechanized regiment n. No. 1 (BMR-M3)), Batallón de Infantería Protegida "Zamora" I/1 (RG-29 Nyala) motorized battalion, Grupo de Artillería de Campaña VII towed artillery squadron (31mm L-118A1) and Batallón de engineer battalion Zapadores VII. And finally, the last of the brigades, Brigada "Aragón", consists of: the 105th Armored Regiment Regimiento Acorazado "Pavía" as part of the Leopard 4E tank battalion and the reconnaissance battalion with Leopard 2E and VEC-M2 vehicles, Regimiento de Infantería. mechanized regiment "Arapiles" No. 1 with one battalion on Pizzaro tracked infantry fighting vehicles, as well as two identical one-battalion regiments: Regimiento de Infantería "Galicia" No. Regimiento de Artillería de Campaña No. 62 artillery with 64 mm M66A20 artillery. self-propelled howitzers and engineer battalion Batallón de Zapadores I.
The division "San Martial" consists of three brigades. The Guzmán el Bueno X brigade is composed of: the armored regiment Regimiento Acorazado "Córdoba" No. 10 with a tank battalion (Leopard 2E) and a reconnaissance battalion (Leopard 2E and VEC-M1), a mechanized regiment Regimiento de Infantería. "La Reina" No. 2 with a battalion on the Pizzaro infantry fighting vehicle and a battalion on M113 tracked armored personnel carriers, a motorized regiment of Regimiento de Infantería "Garellano" No. 45 with a battalion on patrol vehicles RG-31 "Nyala", artillery squadron de Grupoa de Artillería X ( M109A5) and the engineer battalion Batallón de Zapadores X. The second brigade, Brigada "Extremadura" XI, has an armored regiment identical to the previously described brigade - Regimiento Acorazado "Castilla" p. battalion M16) Regimiento de Infantería "Saboya" No. 113, motorized battalion ( RG-6 Nyala) Batallón de Infantería Motorizada "Legazpi" I/31, artillery squadron (M67A109) Grupo de Artillería de Campaña XI and Batallón de Zapadores XI sappers battalion. The last brigade, Brigade "Guadarrama" XII, consists of: armored regiment "Alcázar de Toledo" No. 5 (tank battalion "Leopard 61E" and reconnaissance battalion "Leopard 2E" and VEC-M2), a mechanized regiment. (Pizzaro and M1 Battalion) Regimento de Infantería Mecanizada “Asturias” No. 113, Motorized Monobattalion Regiment (RG-31 Nyala) Regimiento de Infantería “Barcelona” No. 31, Artillery Squadron (M63A109) Grupo de Artillería de Campaña and Battalion XII de Zapadores XII.
