Spanish Armed Forces have commenced the training course aiming to teach Ukrainian military personnel to operate NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems. In charge of the course are instructors of the Toledo Training Coordination Centre (TTCC). The program will last one month, during this time Ukrainians will be taught both maintenance and combat use of the NASAMS anti-aircraft system against russian air threats.
The Spanish army already has some experience in training Ukrainian air defense personnel. Previously, Ukrainians were taught to handle the MIM-23 Hawk and MIM-104 Patriot at TTCC, as noted by Infodefensa.
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The comprehensive training program itself is divided into modules, on top of the ongoing Hawk module and Patriot module, the NASAMS module has been added last week. It will be taught by instructors from the 73rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment of the Spanish Army, the training process will take place directly in the "Tentegorra" barracks in Cartagena.
No other details of the future training were provided but Infodefensa reminds that Norway had ordered additional NASAMS from the manufacturer, Kongsberg, to cover up for those it had sent to Ukraine. The journalists don't rule out that Ukraine may receive additional NASAMS systems from the country as soon as those are delivered.
Therefore, Defense Express assumes that Spain's initiative to train Ukrainian air defense personnel may be tied to the need for additional personnel to operate those air defense systems once they arrive.
According to The Military Balance 2023, at the beginning of last year, Spain had at its disposal eight NASAMS systems, 40 MIM-23B I-Hawk Phase III systems, and 18 M901 missile launchers of the Patriot PAC-2, grouped into three anti-aircraft missile regiments. These facts provide the general outline of the technical basis for the training of Ukrainian air defense personnel in Spain.
Earlier Defense Express reported that Spain had supplied Ukraine with weapons worth 190 million euros since the outbreak of the russian larger invasion, and now Madrid is preparing 20 more Leopard 2A4 tanks for delivery, which makes Spain the biggest donor of this battle tank among all of Ukraine's allies.
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