An EF-18M fighter jet and 21 Spanish soldiers in Paris for the National Day of France

France celebrates its National Day every July 14th, and this year it did so with a particularly large military parade in Paris.

The large Spanish military presence at the United States 250th anniversary events
The Spanish presence in the 2026 International Military Pilgrimage to Lourdes

According to official figures published by the French Ministry of Defense, this parade featured 6,686 men and women, 315 vehicles, 98 aircraft, 33 helicopters, and 193 horses. It was the first time the parade included a contingent from the Ukrainian Army, which received much well-deserved applause.

Spain participated in this parade by land and air. In the land parade, the Spanish Armed Forces were represented by the flag of the Tercio de Armada (TEAR), the expeditionary force of the Spanish Marine Infantry, which was escorted by soldiers from the TEAR, the "Inmemorial del Rey" Infantry Regiment No. 1 of the Army, and the Honor Squadron of the Air Force (EDHEA). The General Staff of the Defence (EMAD) has published these photos of the soldiers who represented Spain in this land parade.

Interestingly, the best images of the participation in the air show come from the General Command of the Polish Armed Forces, which published these photos taken from the F-16 of the Polish Air Force's 2nd Tactical Air Wing, flying alongside the Spanish EF-18M. We see it in the following image on the left (the aircraft on the right is a Rafale B of the French Air Force).

The Spanish fighter jet that flew over Paris today was the EF-18M C.15-43 (15-43), belonging to Wing 15, based in Zaragoza, and with its tail fins decorated with a beautiful livery alluding to the 40th anniversary of that unit, celebrated last year.

The six aircraft from other countries flew in this parade in three wedge formations, each led by a French Rafale fighter, and a fourth wedge formation with three more Rafale fighters. The EF-18M was in the third formation, flying to port (we can see it on the right side in this photo, in the third formation from the top).

If you missed this event, the full live broadcast video of the parade can be viewed here (the production of the broadcast was really good, with some very spectacular shots of the air parade):

At 28:19 we see the foreign fighter jets. Here we can see an image of the EF-18M from Wing 15 (it's the aircraft that appears in the upper right):

And here's another image of the EF-18M, flying right behind an F-35.

At 38:49 in the video, we can see the Spanish soldiers in the ground parade. Here are two screenshots showing them. In the center are the soldiers of the TEAR, on the left those of the EDHEA (Special Defense and Airborne Division), and on the right those of the "Inmemorial del Rey".

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Main image: Élysée. Other images: Estado Mayor de la Defensa / Dowództwo Generalne / Élysée.