Freedom Fighters to Predators

Talavera la Real Air Base in Badajoz will become the Ejército del Aire’s operational base of the Predator B. The new unmanned air vehicles will operate alongside veteran F-5M advanced trainers. Roberto Yáñez and Alex Rodríguez provide the latest news

Official patch of the Spanish Predator B programme office.
Ejército del Aire
During each course there are typically three periods of flying during which students receive the necessary instruction before being assigned to Ejército del Aire fighter squadrons.
All photos by Roberto Yáñez unless noted

CURRENTLY, TALAVERA la Real Air Base is home to the Ejército del Aire’s Escuela de Caza y Ataque (Fighter and Attack School), where future Spanish fighter pilots graduate from a hard and demanding five-year course of study.

Training begins at the Academia General del Aire (AGA) in San Javier, Murcia where students undergo their first four years of study and training as pilots. Each year, around a dozen students are selected to complete their fifth year of training at Talavera for the fighter and attack phase.

Escuela de Caza y Ataque

Established in 1953, the jet school at Talavera initially provided training with Lockheed T-33As, then North American F-86F Sabres, until November 1970 when they were replaced by the CASA/Northrop SF-5B Freedom Fighter. In 1987 the school was redesignated Ala 23 de Instrucción de Caza y Ataque (23rd Fighter and Attack Training Wing) still operating the same SF-5Bs. The aircraft remain in operation today having undergone various structural and avionic modifications in order to facilitate pilot transition to the EF-18 Hornet and Eurofighter.

Between 1992 and 2003 Ala 23 also operated a handful of singleseat SF-5A and SRF-5A Freedom Fighters, which were at the end of their operational lives; all of the F-5As had come from Morón and Gando Air Bases.

Since its beginning in 1953, the school has run over 100 flight courses and graduated over 2,000 pilots. Originally equipped with 34 two-seat SF-5Bs, around 20 remain in service, all modernized and upgraded to F-5M standard.

Most recently, the wings were replaced by the Maestranza Aérea de Albacete (MAESAL), which added an additional 2,000 flight hours to each aircraft; the first F-5Ms are now expected to be withdrawn in 2020.

Several options are currently being studied as part of a plan to replace the aircraft used for basic and advanced training. In recent months, there has been talk of a possible agreement between Spain and South Korea for the exchange of between four and six A400M transports drawn from Spain’s 27-aircraft order, in return for 20 Korean Aerospace Industries T-50 Golden Eagle advanced trainers and 30 KT-1 Woongbi basic trainers.

This supposed agreement is a solution to a problem to be faced by the Ejército del Aire when Ala 23’s F-5Ms and the AGA’s CASA C101 Aviojet aircraft are withdrawn from service; C101s are also in the last phase of their useful life. The Aviojets are expected to be withdrawn starting in 2021.

According to Korean sources, Spain and South Korea hoped to start negotiations at the end of February to finalize the exchange.

Predator arrival

While the future of the Ejército del Aire’s training fleet is still being decided, what is a reality is the imminent arrival at Talavera of the first Class III Remotely Piloted Air System to operate in Spain; the MQ-9 Predator B manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.

Among various Ejército del Aire programmes underway is development of the Escuela de UAS (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle School) established at Salamanca Air Base, and to increase intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities through acquisition of high capability drones.

In November 2015, Spain ordered four Block 5 MQ-9 Predator B drones valued at €158 million. This is a major acquisition for the Spanish armed forces, since they will gain the ability to conduct surveillance, strategic tracking and intelligence as part of worldwide military operations, and to support the Ministry of the Interior by conducting border patrol and maritime surveillance missions.

During a period lasting nearly 50 years, Ejército del Aire F-5Ms have been used to train more than 2,000 fighter pilots. Despite its age, periodic upgrades have given optimum performance to train pilots.
Talavera la Real’s flight line, where aspiring Ejército del Aire fighter pilots undertake their fifth and final year of studies before joining a frontline fighter squadron.
Argentine Air Force pilots have been temporarily assigned to Ala 23 at Talavera for several years.
An artist’s rendering of an Ejército del Aire Predator.
Ejército del Aire

The contract between the Spanish Ministry of Defence and GA-ASI is a US Foreign Military Sale between the two nations. All four aircraft will receive mission payloads (one for each aircraft and a spare) comprising the DAS-1A Multispectral Targeting System Model B; 16 Embedded GPS/INS navigators with Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module, three for each air vehicle and four as initial spares; four APY-8A Block 20A Lynx II multimode radars, plus an option for a fifth; one mobile maintenance test station to facilitate first level maintenance of the air vehicle, along with an option for a second.

Two Block 30 ground control stations with beyond-line-ofsight SATCOM data link and line-of-sight communications are also on order, with an option for a third.

An initial two-year logistical support contract has also been signed with the manufacturer covering the supply of spare parts, support equipment, any necessary training, provision of up-to-date technical manuals, and engineering services associated with the program.

Programme delays have already occurred, the first two Predator B air vehicles and one ground control station are expected to arrive at Talavera by November; all remaining deliveries are scheduled to take place during 2020.

The Ejército del Aire is already preparing infrastructure at Talavera in preparation for the MQ-9s. Until the permanent buildings are built, two large temporary hangars have been set up to house the aircraft, spares, control systems and data links. New antennas are being erected to operate the drones. The airfield at Lanzarote in the Canary Island has been selected as a forward deployment base for the Predator B; construction will also take place at Lanzarote to support MQ-9 operations.

Although its primary mission has always been training, the F-5M maintains a capability to employ weapons, some of which are loaded on aircraft AE9-07.
Within the next five years the Ejército del Aire will retire its fleets of F-5M Freedom Fighters and C101 Aviojet trainers.

233 Escuadrón

The MQ-9 will enter Ejército del Aire service Ala 23’s 233 Escuadrón and operate under the NR.05 designation; N denoting unmanned, R for its primary role of reconnaissance, and 5 because it’s the fifth RPAS to enter Ejército del Aire service.

Unlike other countries, Spanish Reapers will not employ air-toground munitions or carry external fuel tanks but will be configured for future modification to carry munitions if required.

Despite the armed option, Ejército del Aire MQ-9s will remain ISR platforms, while the unmanned strike role is likely to be assigned to a future long-range European RPAS being developed by Spain in conjunction with Germany, France and Italy.

Mechanics and operators assigned to the new unit, are receiving their initial training in the United States. A large contingent of the maintenance personnel trained with New York Air National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing based at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base at Syracuse. The first two crews (each comprising a pilot and a sensor operator) were trained at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico and Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, between September 2017 and August 2018.

The Ejército del Aire’s plan comprises eight crews; training the additional personnel will take place in Spain by the crews already trained in the US, supported by US military personnel at Talavera. The first crews will be pilots from the EF-18 Hornet and Eurofighter forces, and air controllers; at least one transport and one helicopter pilot have already qualified on the MQ-9.

Arrival of the last two MQ-9s will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first F-5 Freedom Fighters for Ala 23 at Talavera; two significant Ejército del Aire milestones that highlight the unit’s past and future operations.

Some of the Ejército del Aire personnel posted to the United States to undergo training with the MQ-9 Predator B pose in front of a US Air Force example. Many of the maintainers trained with the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing based at Syracuse-Hancock Field.
Ejército del Aire