The Spanish army is actively studying the experience of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in battles against the russian invaders and adjusts its practices accordingly. It manifests, for example, in the drills held the other day that included trench assault exercises.
Participants were the Galicia brigade that Spain has deployed as part of the NATO contingent in Slovakia and the Bripac parachute brigade, as summarized by Infodefensa after viewing official media released by the Spanish military on social networks.
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As the journalists noticed, the Spanish Armed Forces are trying to rethink the current situation on the frontlines of the russian–Ukrainian war in general. In their opinion, it has "stalemated in the Donbas for more than a year, most operations on both sides—leaving aside the Kursk offensive—are designed to gain a few kilometers of terrain riddled with defensive positions and mines to make the enemy advance as difficult as possible."
Defense Express notes that, apparently, prior to taking notes of the war realities of Ukraine, Spanish forces were preparing to wage only a maneuver type of war where there is no clear line of contact, and advancing troops can cover up to a dozen kilometers daily, seizing control of enemy territory.
In the video, we can see the results of these revisions reflected in the very format of training. Although we should note that in essence, it's but a simple mechanical reproduction of actions during the assault and exploitation of trenches, performed by Spanish infantry. We cannot see any drones, armored vehicles, or other attributes that accompany such operations in real life.
At first glance, the kind of training that involves only practicing the order of actions, without using appropriate equipment and light and noise effects, may look too mechanistic and unconvincing.
On the other hand, this is precisely what makes it all about the mental shift, as it seems that at this stage, the Spanish military is just trying to accustom to the very idea that instead of maneuver warfare and expeditionary missions, as NATO members, they need to prepare to act in conditions of positional warfare akin to the battles of the World War I.
For reference, according to The Military Balance 2024, the entire terrestrial component of the Spanish Armed Forces, the Army, numbered 71,900 servicemen, organized into one army corps and two divisions as of exactly one year ago. It also possessed 219 tanks, up to 1,000 various armored vehicles, and 1,500 artillery systems of several types.
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