The flight of the AB-212 'Gato' helicopters of the Spanish Navy in Latvia before their farewell

@DefAviation ES 6·22·2024 · 21:47 0

This summer is going to be time for farewells for the Spanish Navy, and specifically for some old helicopters.

The Spanish Navy together with the US Marines in the BALTOPS 24 exercise in Latvia
The emotive farewell of the Spanish Navy to the AB-212 helicopter in Operation Atalanta

On July 31, the Agusta-Bell AB-212 is scheduled to be withdrawn from service, a model nicknamed "Gato" by the Spanish Navy as that is the radio callsign of the 3rd Squadron, a unit founded in 1965 (it then flew with AB-204) and which will be dissolved with the dismissal of these aircraft. Its hangar will be occupied by the new 12th Squadron, which is already flying with the newly released Airbus Helicopters H135 P3H Nival.

The seven AB-212s of the 3rd Squadron arrived in Spain between 1974 and 1980. Thus, the oldest of them has already been in service for 50 years. Their withdrawal from service in the Navy will not mean a definitive farewell to the Spanish Armed Forces, since they will be transferred to the Maneuver Helicopter Battalion VI (BHELMA VI) of the Spanish Army, based in Los Rodeos (Tenerife), which still operates three AB-212 helicopters.

At the end of February, the Spanish Navy held a farewell ceremony for the AB-212 in Operation Atalanta, in which these old helicopters have accompanied the "Santa María" F-80 class frigates in 17 deployments to the Indian Ocean over 9 years. Now, the AB-212 embarked on the "Juan Carlos I" L-61 aircraft carrier are in the Baltic Sea, participating in the NATO Baltops 24 exercise, which will conclude next Monday, June 24. This is possibly the last international mission of these aircraft with the Spanish Navy.

Yesterday, the Latvian Army published a video showing some beautiful images of the Spanish AB-212 in this exercise. Spanish Marines, US Marines and members of the Latvian National Guard who participated in these maneuvers also appear in the video. The images were recorded at the "Mežaine" military range, in the Latvian town of Kauja. I recommend turning up the volume to enjoy the classic sound of the two-blade rotor of these helicopters:

You can see some screenshots from this video below these lines. Many in the Spanish Navy are going to miss this helicopter, which for so many years has provided such excellent services.