Images of the hangars of the Spanish LHD 'Juan Carlos I' L-61 at maximum capacity

@DefAviation ES 7·12·2024 · 13:03 0

This week, the city of Vigo has had the honor of receiving the visit of the Expeditionary Combat Group "Dédalo" 24 of the Spanish Navy.

NATO highlights and shows the 'air power' of the Spanish aircraft carrier 'Juan Carlos I'
The US shows the night operations of the Spanish Harrier II in the Baltic Sea

This group has been carrying out a large deployment for months in the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. A deployment that shows the capacity of the Spanish Navy to project its force far beyond the Spanish coasts, a capacity that few naval forces have.

On this visit, the group has been led by the flagship of the Spanish Navy, the aircraft carrier (or more technically speaking, LHD) "Juan Carlos I" L-61, the amphibious assault ship "Galicia" L- 51 and the frigate "Blas de Lezo" F-103. This stopover in Vigo is the last of this group before the return of these ships to their bases, specifically to Rota (in the case of the L-61 and the L-51) and Ferrol (on F-103).

The L-61 has been in Vigo several times since entering service with the Spanish Navy in 2010. In fact, on its maiden voyage it stopped in this city. However, it must be said that this ship has never visited Vigo as loaded as on this trip.

This Thursday I was on board the L-61, which has arrived in Vigo with dozens of vehicles from the Tercio de Armada (TEAR), most of them belonging to the First Landing Battalion, distributed among its garage in heavy vehicles and its light vehicle garage, in addition to two EAV-8B+ Harrier II Plus fighters from the 9th Squadron (unfortunately, during my visit the parking area for these aircraft was closed to the public) and three AB-212 "Gato" helicopters of the 3rd Squadron, in their last deployment before their withdrawal from service, scheduled for July 31.

You can see here some of the photos I took during the visit to L-61. We start with this photo of the masts of the aircraft carrier, in which we see a square Spanish flag with a blue circle. This is the insignia that indicates the presence of a rear admiral on board.

The heavy vehicle garage was full of trucks, mostly Iveco-Pegaso M.250 of various types, with the characteristic gray paint that these TEAR vehicles wear. Above these lines we can see a tanker variant for refueling.

Here we see the cargo version of the M.250.

There were four rows of heavy vehicles, all of them tied to hitches in the ground so that they do not move during navigation on the high seas.

Another image of the heavy vehicle garage.

In this same garage there were two 105/14 mm OTO-Melara Model 56 light howitzers, belonging to the Landing Artillery Group (GAD) of the TEAR.

In the heavy vehicle garage I also saw this Piranha IIIC infantry fighting vehicle, in a command version, belonging to the Third Mechanized Battalion (BDMZ-III) of the TEAR.

In addition to the M.250, in the heavy equipment garage I saw these two Mercedes Unimog trucks with DUBHE EW-ESM stations belonging to the TEAR Headquarters Battalion (BCG).

In this heavy vehicle garage there were also some light vehicles, like this Uro VAMTAC ST-5 armored.

Behind the previous vehicle and next to the access to the flood dam was this Uro VAMTAC ST-5 ambulance.

In the floodable dike, L-61 carried two LCM-1E landing craft. Here we see the one located on the starboard side.

Access from the heavy vehicle garage to the light vehicle garage is through this ramp located on the port side of the interior of the ship.

On that ramp I was lucky enough to see one of the two new Avenger robots of the Explosives Disposal Section (SEDEX) of the Sapper Company of the TEAR Amphibious Mobility Group.

When I arrived at the light vehicle garage I found this image: several rows of VAMTAC ST-5s of various types.

More VAMTAC ST-5. The two on the left have turrets for Browning M-2 machine guns. The third ST-5 is a troop transport version, with the capacity to carry seven soldiers.

In this garage I also saw this Volkswagen Amarok of the Naval Police. The vehicle on your left is a VAMTAC ST-5 pick-up version.

In the light vehicle garage I also saw these two Humvees, an M-1038A1 (left) and an M-1038 (right). They are already one of the last vehicles of this type that TEAR operates. They are being replaced by the VAMTAC ST-5.

In addition to Marine Corps vehicles, in the light vehicle garage there were aircraft tractors, like this EINSA from the Rota Naval Base.

Next to the front elevator were three AB-212 "Gato" helicopters. Here we see the two located on the port side. The 3rd Squadron personnel were kind enough to turn on the cockpit panels and open the engine, so I took all the photos I wanted of the helicopter. I will dedicate another article specifically to those photos.

The visit to the flight deck was a mess, since it started to rain (normal for July 11 in the middle of summer in Galicia, hehe). If you want to see more images, I have uploaded a total of 70 photos of this series to my Flickr account. You can see them here: