French Navy Units and Spanish Army Air Mobility Forces share exercises in the Mediterranean

The French Marine Nationale, by means of their “Dixmude” ship, and the Spanish Army, with the participation of the Air Mobility Forces, carried out a joint exercise in the Mediterranean waters, from Toulon to Barcelona from 5 to 9 June.

32 Spanish troops and three helicopters participated in this third collaboration of this kind between the “Dixmude” and the Spanish Army helicopters. A chinook was contributed by the 5th Transport Helicopters Battalion (Colmenar Viejo); a Cougar, by the 3rd Maneuvre Helicopters Battalion (Agoncillo); and a Super Puma, by the 4th Maneuvre Helicopters Batallion (Dos Hermanas). The Spanish military lived on board the “Dixmude” ship with the French crew for five days.

Both representations managed the coordination and interoperability of the Spanish military helicopters and the French ship for possible joint action within the framework of billateral agreements and international organisations that both countries are members of. More specifically, the Spanish aircraft on board were used to carry out exercises including pilot classification, machine gun shots and external loading.