The RAF highlights the Spanish Air Force as a 'key partner' with a spectacular video

The Spanish Air Force is one of NATO's largest air forces, and its contribution to the Alliance has been considerable.

A hovering flight comparison between a Spanish Harrier II Plus and a British F-35B
An excellent video from the Indian Air Force highlighting the Spanish Eurofighters

This contribution and the collaborative work with other allied air forces are also valued in other countries, including the United Kingdom. Proof of this is the spectacular video published yesterday by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on several of its social media channels, featuring images of Spanish Eurofighters, EF-18Ms, and A400M Atlases. In its Twitter message sharing the video, the RAF highlights that the Spanish Air Force as "one of our key partners working closely together to support the mission." You can watch the video here:

#OpHIGHMAST is in full swing #CSG25 💪

🇪🇸 Spanish Air Force, @ejercitodelaire, are one of our key partners working closely together to support the mission 🤝 pic.twitter.com/CjLCtI4eJa

— Royal Air Force (@RoyalAirForce) May 10, 2025

In the video, the RAF highlights the Eurofighter and the A400M as two common systems for both air forces. It should be noted that both Spain and the United Kingdom are part of the manufacturing program for both aircraft, in the first case through the Eurofighter GmbH consortium and in the second through Airbus.

"From the Cold War to today, the Royal Air Force and Spanish Air Force have flown the same frontline aircraft - building strength through shared technology and training," the RAF notes in the video showing images of the Eurofighter.

The United Kingdom was the largest operator of the Eurofighter, with 160 units, but is currently the second operator, with 107 active fighters, having retired 52 from service (of the oldest version, Tranche 1) and having lost one aircraft in an accident. Spain has 69 Eurofighters in active service, from Tranches 1 (19), 2 (34) and 3A (20), having lost 4 units in accidents, and has already announced the acquisition of another 45 (of Tranche 4) to replace some of its EF-18s.

As for the Atlas, the Spanish Air Force has 14 A400Ms out of a total of 27 ordered. At the moment, it is not clear what will happen to the remaining ones, although it has been announced that Spain will operate at least 17 of those acquired, with plans to sell the rest to other countries. In turn, the RAF has 22 A400Ms, although there are plans to increase this fleet. In the RAF, the Atlases overlap their strategic transport mission with six Boeing C-17A Globemasters. Both countries have already retired their fleets of aging C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.

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Main photo: Ejército del Aire.