The A400-M aircraft of the Spanish Air Force takes off from the Los Llanos base in Albacete bound for Poland with a shipment of weapons for Ukraine. /
Two military planes transferred this Friday part of the 1,370 grenade launchers and 700,000 cartridges and machine guns committed by the Government
Two planes of the Air Force transferred this Friday from the Los Llanos Air Base, in Albacete, to a Polish airfield near Ukraine the weapons that the Government has made available to the Armed Forces of this country to resist the Russian military offensive . The A-400Ms left at noon and in the afternoon they were already unloading the war material. This Saturday it is expected that two other similar devices will transfer the rest of the committed load from the Albacete base.
The shipment of weapons includes a total of 1,370 anti-tank grenade launchers, 700,000 rifle cartridges and light machine guns, according to Defense Minister Margarita Robles, who took refuge in the right to “legitimate defense” of the Ukrainian resistance to take the step of send “offensive material”. The decision was announced last Wednesday in Congress by President Pedro Sánchez and the details of the weapons arranged were revealed 12 hours later during an interview with Robles on private television.
In any case, Defense has chosen to give a low profile to this matter, which has once again undermined the unity of the coalition government. In the first place, it has not sent any official communication confirming the shipment of the lethal material, unlike the transfer of 20 tons of humanitarian and defensive aid (helmets and vests) that took place last Sunday from the Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base (Madrid). ), when they widely spread this device.
Secondly, they did not send official images of the loading of the weapons on the A-400M this Friday, nor was there a call to the media to cover this act.
It will not be until next Wednesday when Robles appears in Congress in the afternoon to report on the measures adopted by Spain in relation to the war in Ukraine, including the decision to send the aforementioned weapons.
Maneuvers in Norway
The head of Defense asked to appear before the commission of the branch to account for the participation of the Armed Forces in international missions, a periodic report required by the Defense Law, but in the same session she will attend to the requests of the PP, ERC and a former deputy Citizens to also report on the crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine.
Another known issue this Friday is that Spain will participate with a dozen Leopard tanks and six Pizarro armored vehicles in the largest maneuvers organized by NATO this year with Norway as the chosen country.
The unit that will be deployed for a month belongs to the 12th ‘Guadarrama’ Brigade and 250 soldiers will be deployed, according to military sources. “Approximately 2,500 soldiers, mainly from four NATO nations (France, Italy, Poland and Spain) will participate on the ground. These forces will be supported by ten warships from eight countries (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom), with some 750 sailors operating off the coast of Norway, and by contributed air assets. by NATO member states,” detailed the headquarters of the Joint Command of the Alliance Forces based in the Netherlands.
The Leopardo and Pizarro armored tanks will soon leave the port of Santander and the bulk of the troops will be flown to Norway, a member of the Atlantic Alliance since 1949.
