The Spanish Navy shows its membership in a select club of five NATO navies

Founded in the 15th century, the Spanish Navy is one of the oldest and best-equipped navies in the world.

A deployment of US MH-60R helicopters on the Spanish ship 'Juan Carlos I'
Images of the Irish Naval Service and the Spanish Navy together in the Irish Sea

With over 90 ships and more than 180 auxiliary vessels, the Spanish Navy belongs to a select group of navies: those with blue-water fleets, capable of projecting their power far from their coasts and possessing a naval infantry force and air support for their operations. This Thursday, the Spanish Navy released a video explaining this capability:

As the video points out, currently only five NATO countries have full naval power projection capabilities: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Spain. A sixth country, Turkey, is in an advanced stage of transitioning from so-called green-water fleets (those dedicated to protecting its coastline) to blue-water fleets.

If I recently pointed out here the communication problems of our Armed Forces, I must say that this video from the Spanish Navy is an example of high-quality communication: excellent graphics, well-chosen music, and 4K resolution. This is the way forward. You can see some screenshots from the video here.

The frigate "Reina Sofía" F-84, of the Santa María F-80 class, is one of the oldest escort vessels in the Spanish Navy. The F-80s will be replaced by the new Bonifaz F-110 class frigates.

An impressive squadron made up of ships from the Spanish Navy and other countries. Among the Spanish ships we see the submarine "Galerna" S-71, the amphibious assault ships "Galicia" L-51 and "Castilla" L-52, the aircraft carrier "Juan Carlos I" L-61 (flagship of the Spanish Navy), the combat supply ship "Cantabria" A-15, two "Álvaro de Bazán" class frigates F-100, three "Santa María" class frigates F-80, a "Meteoro" class maritime action vessel and two "Segura" class minehunters.

An LCM-1E Landing Craft transporting three Uro VAMTAC ST-5 tactical vehicles of the Marine Corps.

Two 8x8 MOWAG Piranha IIIC armored vehicles of the Tercio de Armada (TEAR), the expeditionary force of the Spanish Marine Infantry.

Some of the aircraft of the Spanish Navy's Air Wing (FLOAN). Specifically, we see McDonnell Douglas EAV-8B+ Harrier II fighters from the 9th Squadron and Sikorsky SH-60F Seahawk tactical transport helicopters from the 10th Squadron.