This is the surface-to-air missile launcher that the BRILAT has deployed at the Santiago Airport

@DefAviation ES 6·11·2023 · 22:03 0

The Brigade "Galicia" VII (BRILAT) of the Spanish Army has carried out an exercise at the Santiago de Compostela Military Aerodrome.

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This aerodrome is located next to the Santiago de Compostela Airport. It has its own platform for parking aircraft, but it shares the use of the runways with the civil airport. The exercise carried out by BRILAT has had the participation of the Mistral Battery of the VII Field Artillery Group (GACA VII) of the Brigade, and is part of the Adriatic Strike exercise 2023, developed between June 8 and 11 in various NATO countries.

The Spanish Army has published three photos of this exercise, showing the deployment of an MBDA Mistral short-range surface-to-air missile launcher mounted on a Uro VAMTAC S-3.

The MBDA Mistral deploys quickly, being able to hit targets up to 5,300 meters away. Once fired, the missile reaches a top speed of Mach 2.6 (3,210 km/h). It has an infrared guidance system, that is, it is oriented by the heat given off by the aircraft's engines, and it is designed to avoid lures in the form of flares. It has a warhead made of 2.95 high explosive with tungsten balls , which detonates by proximity.

A week ago, BRILAT exhibited this launcher at the exhibition of material that he carried out in the city of Pontevedra. Here you can see the moment when the soldiers of the Mistral Battery were guarding the launcher.

Here we see a VAMTAC S-3 from the GACA VII Mistral Battery with the missile launcher already folded, in a photo I took last Sunday, at the end of the aforementioned BRILAT exhibition.

The purpose of this Mistral Battery is to be deployed alongside military positions to provide short-range air defense cover, and it can also be quickly assembled in case a moving convoy is threatened from the air. Here we see a BRILAT Mistral launcher masked with camouflage netting during the exhibition of materials carried out by this Brigade in June 2017.

In 1988, the Army bought 108 Mistral missile launchers, which are still in use in many units. It is also used by the Air Force Support Squadron (EADA). Ukraine is currently using it to defend against Russian air attacks, thanks to launchers donated by France and Norway.