The old 'Gatos' of the Spanish Navy embark again but painted green

On July 30th, it will be one year since the Spanish Navy's farewell ceremony to its AB-212+ "Gatos" (Cats) helicopters.

Farewell to the Third Squadron of the Spanish Navy, but not to its AB-212 helicopters
The AB-212 'Gato' helicopters of the Spanish Navy seen up close and in great detail

That event was also the farewell to the Third Squadron, founded in 1965 and which began flying with Agusta-Bell AB-204B helicopters. As we saw then, the Spanish Navy's AB-212s were waiting for a second life with the Spanish Army's Airmobile Forces (FAMET), when they were transferred to the Sixth Manoeuvre Helicopter Battalion (BHELMA VI), created in 1986 and based in Los Rodeos, Tenerife.

For BHELMA VI, the arrival of the "Gatos" is a blessing. That battalion operated three AB-212s purchased in the 1980s and which, unlike the Navy's AB-212+, had not been modernized. Those three AB-212s from BHELMA VI should have been retired by 2017, and the arrival of the AB-212+ will surely serve to retire those three old AB-212s from service.

The Navy's "Gatos" have considerable improvements over their Army counterparts. Among other things, they were equipped with an EO/IR surveillance system (using the detection and acquisition of light and thermal radiation), "an AIS transceiver for naval reconnaissance and a GPS navigation system with moving map display, incorporated into a mission tactical computer (MTC) that enables the integration of signals from all systems and displays them on the EFIS screens," the Navy said. All of these new systems are compatible for flight with night vision goggles.

The adaptation of the AB-212+ for the FAMET is the responsibility of the company Pegasus Aero Group, based in Palma del Río (Córdoba). In April 2025, the Canary Islands Command (MCANA) of the Army published these photos of the first of the six AB-212+ "Gato" delivered to the FAMET, the ET-281 HU.18-20. The helicopter has lost its traditional naval grey and is now painted NATO green, the scheme already used by the AB-212s so far in service on the BHELMA VI.

The new BHELMA VI helicopters are distinguished from their predecessors externally by the radar installed above their cockpit, as well as by the rescue crane installed next to the starboard hatch. Two reminders of their naval past that will now be useful to the Army.

For the crews, the big news is inside the cockpit, as the AB-212+ have large digital screens instead of purely analog instruments. Last year I showed you those screens on here. Here you can see the video published by MCANA showing the arrival of this helicopter:

¡Buenos días! Arrancamos la última semana de 🗓abril dejando unas imagenes de la llegada al Acuartelamiento de Los Rodeos #BHELMA_VI 🚁 del
ET - 281, primer AB 212+ procedente de La Armada.@MCANA_ET @Armada_esp@EjercitoTierra 🇪🇦 pic.twitter.com/sVaQ8YjqLF

— Mando de Canarias (@MCANA_ET) April 28, 2025

Despite their new assignment in the Army, the former AB-212+ "Gato" have not taken long to embark again on a Navy ship. The Defense Staff (EMAD) has published today a news item about the first deployment of the "Dédalo" Expeditionary Combat Group of the Spanish Navy in 2025, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. In the photos published by EMAD we can see an AS-332B1 Super Puma helicopter from BHELMA VI operating on the aircraft carrier "Juan Carlos I" L-61, specifically the ET-506 HT.21-04.

But without a doubt, the photo that will provoke the most nostalgia in our sailors is the following one, in which we see the AB-212+ ET-281 HU.18-20, one of the Navy's old "Gatos", aboard the L-61, with a Super Puma in the background. The EMAD has pointed out: "During the first days of activation, the Expeditionary Combat Group "Dédalo" has carried out different activities with the Army and the Air Force and Space Force. It has collaborated with the training of pilots of the Army's AB212 helicopters, of the Bhelma VI Battalion, integrated into the Canary Islands Command, which took off from the flight deck of the "Juan Carlos I". These helicopters were recently transferred from the Navy to the Army".

The last time I was aboard the L-61 was on July 11, 2024, and there were three gray-painted "Gatos" in the aircraft hangar. I find it curious to see it now on the flight deck of that ship, but painted NATO green. Long live the "Gatos"!

+ UPDATED 24.6.2025 19:24h: MCANA has published today a new photo of the AB-212+ "Gato" with its new paint job aboard the aircraft carrier "Juan Carlos I" during this training:

This new photo shows that this helicopter, the ET-281 HU.18-20, no longer has the FLIR sight that the AB-212+ carried under the nose when they belonged to the Spanish Navy. In July 2024, I showed you this photo I took of that sight here, which was painted black:

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Main photo: Elentir.