Spain Leads NATO Battlegroup in Slovakia for the First Time Since the Start of Mission
From today, Spain is leading the NATO battlegroup in Slovakia for the first time since the start of the mission. The assets deployed by Spain in Slovakia include VRCC Centauro cavalry reconnaissance and combat vehicles, VERT reconnaissance and geographic vehicles, Mistral rocket launchers, 105mm field artillery howitzers and explosive ordnance disposal vehicles.
Spain currently invests most of its deployment capability in battlegroups on NATO's Eastern Front, where it has doubled its presence with a new mission in Slovakia. Spain also has troops in Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. In September, the number of troops will increase by another hundred when the Nasams air defence battery is deployed to Estonia for the second time. In addition, the F-18s deployed in Lithuania will return to Spain at the end of July, but on 1 December they will be replaced by eight Eurofighters that will carry out an air policing mission for four months in Romania.
The Spanish Armed Forces will maintain a permanent deployment of nearly 800 soldiers, who, together with 50 from Slovakia, 104 from Slovenia, 150 from the Czech Republic and 80 from Portugal, make up the Alliance's battlegroup deterrence based in Leste.
Battlegroups are the main component of an army. They consist of combat units of around 1,500 soldiers from one or more nations. These battalions include armoured units, infantry, air defence, field artillery, transmissions, sappers and logistics personnel. The composition and tasks of the groups may vary depending on the mission.
As previously reported by The Gaze, NATO countries Bulgaria and Romania, together with Turkey, have launched an operation to clear the Black Sea of drifting mines that have appeared in large numbers in the countries' territorial waters due to Russia's war in Ukraine.
