A Permanent Mission

All for MDOA

In addition, together the UDAA forms a permanent part of the MDOA, an F-100 Frigate from the Army and fighter planes from the Air Force (in this case, there were six F-18 fighter-bombers from the 46th Wing).  This units form a part of the Joint Task Force 1 – that depends on the Joint Chiefs of Staff – for permanent operations. All of these should maintain a level of availability, in the case that UDAA is for five days, signifying the maintenance of perfectly instructed personnel and availability to be deployed to any location nationwide.

Within these possibilities of deployment in national territory, the Canary Islands could be a location that presents greater challenges, caused by their situation as islands and location further from the Peninsula.  Hence the interest in this activation in Fuerteventura, being the first within these fortunate islands.   And the success was double: on the one side because it demonstrated the Land Forces capacity to transfer its UDAA until any point where its contribution is necessary; and the other, because it achieved to establish all connections in order to have integrated the UDAA, as much internally – with distinctive arms systems – as externally – with the MDOA Command System – during the whole operative phase.

Leverage Efforts

This last MDOA activation coincided with various exercises led and coordinated by the Air Forces for air defense and control of national airspace.  In the same course, defensive missions were carried out as an answer to attacks and movements from unidentified aircraft, the objective being to train and evaluate the health of the Air Defense System.

Amongst them, highlighting the “Sirio” exercise, the most important Air Defense exercise realized in Spain, which is developed in the Peninsula and in the Balearic Islands from the 22nd to the 30th of June.  The “Sirio” objective is to check present Air Defense plans and activate completely the Air Defense Systems in national territory to verify that all the composed elements act in a coordinated way.

In addition to Land Units, the Navy and the Air Force also participate, serving to reassure their agreement to standards of interoperability, together and allied with anti-aircraft combat training that will be employed when they support operational ground organizations.

Within its execution, with the philosophy to maximize logistics efforts and aircraft flights, including the “Ramstein Guard” which is a tactical activity centered around training in an electronic warfare environment.  It´s for this same motive that the “Eagle Eye” exercise coincides with the annual airspace defensive “DACEX” exercise which took place starting from the 27th till the 30th of June in the Canary Islands.