The mention of the F-35 by a Harrier II pilot from the 9th Squadron of the Spanish Navy

@DefAviation ES 6·29·2024 · 22:27 0

As I have already mentioned on occasion, the F-35 seems to have become a taboo subject in the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

The US Department of Defense sets a deadline for Spain to acquire the F-35B fighter
The Commander of the Aircraft Flotilla of the Spanish Navy speaks clearly about the F-35

The Spanish Harrier IIs have no other possible substitute than the F-35B

It has been evident for some time that Spain will have to buy the F-35B if it does not want to be left without its embarked aircraft unit, currently made up of Harrier II Plus fighters, since this model has no other possible substitute than the F-35B, which is today the only STOVL (short takeoff and vertical landing) aircraft that is in production. The current Spanish government has been avoiding talking about this need for years and omitting any reference to the F-35B, in an inexplicable way.

This taboo is not shared by the Spanish Navy, obviously because the F-35B is the only solution available to avoid being left if the close air support capacity that the Harrier IIs currently provide to the fleet in their deployments at greater distances. Today, the Defense General Staff (EMAD) has published a video in which we see several members of the Embarked Air Unit (UAEMB) of the aircraft carrier "Juan Carlos I" L-61 during its participation in the Daedalus 24 Expeditionary Combat Group.

Seven Harrier IIs, three AB-212 helicopters and 114 people (including officers, non-commissioned officers and sailors) make up that UAEMB during this deployment. The video shows us the maintenance tasks carried out on the Harrier II on board the ship, including the disassembly of the wing to carry out maintenance work on the engine.

“It is, along with the F-35, the only aircraft in the world that can do that”

In the video, a veteran Harrier II pilot, the Second Commander of the 9th Squadron, comments on the STOVL capability of these aircraft, commenting on how they are capable of taking off in the limited space on the deck of flight of the L-61 and land vertically. Next he adds something obvious but that contrasts with that "taboo" of the ministry: "it is, along with the F-35, the only plane in the world that can do that". Here is the video (I hope you see it at the Ministry of Defense). The video is in Spanish, you can activate the automatic subtitles in English in the bottom bar of the player:

The Spanish Navy already indicated in 2020 that it needed the F-35

The Spanish Navy has already indicated its interest in the F-35B several times. In November 2020, the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy (AJEMA), Teodoro Esteban López Calderón, pointed out that the only solution to replace the Harrier II was the F-35, adding: "We believe that we will be able to keep our Harriers in service until 2028." AJEMA also pointed out that this fifth generation fighter "is a program that will have a cost and will need to be launched in the next 5-6 years so as not to lose the capacity that the Harriers give us, which are one of the key elements in our expeditionary capacity."

Commanders of the Spanish Navy met with the military head of the F-35 program in 2021

In August 2021, Spanish Navy commanders met with the military head of the F-35 program in the US. Curiously, this meeting was not communicated by any official channel of the Navy or the Ministry of Defense, and it came to light because the multimedia portal of the US Armed Forces published a series of photos from the meeting. Significantly, the Spanish delegation was headed by Admiral Santiago González Gómez, general director of Armament and Material (DIGAM) of the Ministry of Defense.

Likewise, in October 2023, the commander of the Aircraft Flotilla (FLOAN) of the Spanish Navy spoke clearly about the F-35 when asked about when the replacement of the 9th Squadron's Harrier IIs: "The sooner, the better. With the Italian Marina Militare and the US Navy Marines transitioning to the F-35B, we will soon be left as the last and only users of the Harrier. And it is not possible to ignore that, if the Ministry of Defense decides on this purchase, there will be waiting times depending on demand and production capacity of the assembly lines."

The withdrawal of the Spanish Harrier II from service is scheduled for 2030

Furthermore, the commander of the FLOAN added: "The 11 aircraft in service in the 9th Squadron are in their last third of life and their retirement is scheduled around the year 2030 since, in addition of the platform's own obsolescence, in the year 2028 there will be the end of the cooperative program that has guaranteed its maintenance and updating throughout its life cycle."

Let us remember that in April the Portuguese Air Force confirmed the beginning of its transition to the F-35 to replace its current fleet of 28 F-16 fighters. Portugal has indicated that it will take seven years to receive the planes. That is to say, even if Spain now confirmed the purchase of the F-35B, it would possibly no longer arrive in time to replace the Harrier II and the Spanish Navy would lose that capability for an indeterminate period of time.

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Main photo: BAE Systems Air. A Harrier II of the Spanish Navy flying alongside a British F-35 at the RIAT in July 2023.