{"id":56497,"date":"2024-07-12T13:03:11","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T11:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=56497"},"modified":"2026-07-12T03:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T01:00:14","slug":"images-of-the-hangars-of-the-spanish-lhd-juan-carlos-i-l-61-at-maximum-capacity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/07\/12\/images-of-the-hangars-of-the-spanish-lhd-juan-carlos-i-l-61-at-maximum-capacity\/","title":{"rendered":"Images of the hangars of the Spanish LHD 'Juan Carlos I' L-61 at maximum capacity"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, the city of Vigo has had the honor of receiving the visit of the Expeditionary Combat Group \"D\u00e9dalo\" 24 of the Spanish Navy.<\/p>\n

NATO highlights and shows the 'air power' of the Spanish aircraft carrier 'Juan Carlos I'<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe US shows the night operations of the Spanish Harrier II in the Baltic Sea<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

This group has been carrying out a large deployment for months in the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea<\/strong>. A deployment that shows the capacity of the Spanish Navy to project its force far beyond the Spanish coasts, a capacity that few naval forces have.<\/p>\n

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On this visit, the group has been led by the flagship of the Spanish Navy, the aircraft carrier (or more technically speaking, LHD) \"Juan Carlos I\" L-61, the amphibious assault ship \"Galicia\" L- 51 and the frigate \"Blas de Lezo\" F-103.<\/strong> This stopover in Vigo is the last of this group before the return of these ships to their bases, specifically to Rota (in the case of the L-61 and the L-51) and Ferrol (on F-103).<\/p>\n

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The L-61 has been in Vigo several times since entering service with the Spanish Navy in 2010. In fact, on its maiden voyage it stopped in this city<\/a>. However, it must be said that this ship has never visited Vigo as loaded as on this trip<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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This Thursday I was on board the L-61, which has arrived in Vigo with dozens of vehicles from the Tercio de Armada (TEAR), most of them belonging to the First Landing Battalion<\/strong>, distributed among its garage in heavy vehicles and its light vehicle garage, in addition to two EAV-8B+ Harrier II Plus fighters from the 9th Squadron<\/strong> (unfortunately, during my visit the parking area for these aircraft was closed to the public) and three AB-212 \"Gato\" helicopters of the 3rd Squadron<\/strong>, in their last deployment before their withdrawal from service, scheduled for July 31.<\/p>\n

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You can see here some of the photos I took during the visit to L-61.<\/strong> We start with this photo of the masts of the aircraft carrier, in which we see a square Spanish flag with a blue circle<\/strong>. This is the insignia that indicates the presence of a rear admiral on board.<\/p>\n

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The heavy vehicle garage was full of trucks, mostly Iveco-Pegaso M.250<\/strong> of various types, with the characteristic gray paint that these TEAR vehicles wear. Above these lines we can see a tanker variant for refueling.<\/p>\n

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Here we see the cargo version<\/strong> of the M.250.<\/p>\n

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There were four rows of heavy vehicles<\/strong>, all of them tied to hitches in the ground so that they do not move during navigation on the high seas.<\/p>\n

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Another image of the heavy vehicle garage.<\/p>\n

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In this same garage there were two 105\/14 mm OTO-Melara Model 56 light howitzers<\/strong>, belonging to the Landing Artillery Group (GAD) of the TEAR.<\/p>\n

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In the heavy vehicle garage I also saw this Piranha IIIC infantry fighting vehicle<\/strong>, in a command version, belonging to the Third Mechanized Battalion (BDMZ-III) of the TEAR.<\/p>\n

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In addition to the M.250, in the heavy equipment garage I saw these two Mercedes Unimog trucks with DUBHE EW-ESM stations<\/strong> belonging to the TEAR Headquarters Battalion (BCG).<\/p>\n

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In this heavy vehicle garage there were also some light vehicles, like this Uro VAMTAC ST-5 armored<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Behind the previous vehicle and next to the access to the flood dam was this Uro VAMTAC ST-5 ambulance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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In the floodable dike, L-61 carried two LCM-1E landing craft<\/strong>. Here we see the one located on the starboard side.<\/p>\n

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Access from the heavy vehicle garage to the light vehicle garage<\/strong> is through this ramp located on the port side of the interior of the ship.<\/p>\n

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On that ramp I was lucky enough to see one of the two new Avenger robots of the Explosives Disposal Section (SEDEX)<\/strong> of the Sapper Company of the TEAR Amphibious Mobility Group.<\/p>\n

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When I arrived at the light vehicle garage I found this image:<\/strong> several rows of VAMTAC ST-5s of various types.<\/p>\n

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More VAMTAC ST-5.<\/strong> The two on the left have turrets for Browning M-2 machine guns. The third ST-5 is a troop transport version, with the capacity to carry seven soldiers.<\/p>\n

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In this garage I also saw this Volkswagen Amarok of the Naval Police<\/strong>. The vehicle on your left is a VAMTAC ST-5 pick-up version.<\/p>\n

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In the light vehicle garage I also saw these two Humvees, an M-1038A1 (left) and an M-1038 (right)<\/strong>. They are already one of the last vehicles of this type that TEAR operates. They are being replaced by the VAMTAC ST-5.<\/p>\n

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In addition to Marine Corps vehicles, in the light vehicle garage there were aircraft tractors<\/strong>, like this EINSA from the Rota Naval Base.<\/p>\n

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Next to the front elevator were three AB-212 \"Gato\" helicopters<\/strong>. Here we see the two located on the port side. The 3rd Squadron personnel were kind enough to turn on the cockpit panels and open the engine, so I took all the photos I wanted of the helicopter. I will dedicate another article specifically to those photos.<\/p>\n

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The visit to the flight deck was a mess<\/strong>, since it started to rain (normal for July 11 in the middle of summer in Galicia, hehe). If you want to see more images, I have uploaded a total of 70 photos of this series to my Flickr account<\/a>. You can see them here:<\/p>\n

\"Visita<\/a>