The Diplomat
The Spanish Armed Forces have deployed a long-range air surveillance radar in Romania as part of military support for the defence of the Atlantic Alliance’s eastern flank against Russia, reports Europa Press.
The Ministry of Defence reported yesterday that the radar, along with all the technical material required for its use, left Cartagena (Murcia) on 10 October to be installed at a base near the Romanian city of Constanza.
A total of 38 Air and Space Army personnel have been deployed to operate it, with the mission of keeping the radar operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The radar and most of the personnel and resources belong to the Mobile Air Control Group (GRUMOCA), with the main support of personnel and resources from the Second Air Deployment Support Squadron (SEADA).
They will be joined in the coming weeks by more than a hundred troops in charge of the new air police mission that Spain will also carry out in Romania, which will overlap a first deployment that will begin on 1 November in Bulgaria.
Spain has reinforced its military presence on NATO’s eastern border since before the start of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine in February. The number of troops deployed in Latvia has increased from 350 to 650, while it maintains a permanent naval presence in the Mediterranean area and has multiplied its air police missions, both in the Baltic and in the Black Sea.
With this deployment, Spain reaffirms its commitment to peace and international security, being one of the European countries that makes the greatest effort in international missions.
