{"id":59308,"date":"2025-04-16T23:15:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T21:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=59308"},"modified":"2026-04-16T02:21:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:21:34","slug":"the-spanish-navy-begins-operating-its-new-nh-90-mspt-sable-helicopters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/04\/16\/the-spanish-navy-begins-operating-its-new-nh-90-mspt-sable-helicopters\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spanish Navy begins operating its new NH-90 MSPT 'Sable' helicopters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In May 2024, the Spanish Navy created the 14th Squadron of its Aircraft Flotilla (FLOAN), dedicated to a new helicopter model.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/12\/20\/airbus-shows-the-three-spanish-versions-of-the-nh90-military-helicopter-together-at-last\/\">Airbus shows the three Spanish versions of the NH90 military helicopter together at last<\/a><\/rel><br \/>\n<rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/07\/31\/farewell-to-the-third-squadron-of-the-spanish-navy-but-not-to-its-ab-212-helicopters\/\">Farewell to the Third Squadron of the Spanish Navy, but not to its AB-212 helicopters<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n<p>The new model, the NH-90 MSPT, arrived late to replace the AB-212 \"Gato\" of the 3rd Squadron, retired from service in July 2024. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/12\/20\/airbus-shows-the-three-spanish-versions-of-the-nh90-military-helicopter-together-at-last\/\">In December, Airbus showed together for the first time the three Spanish variants of the NH-90<\/a>: the \"Lobo\" of the Air Force, the \"Sarrio\" of the Army and <strong>the \"Sable\" of the Navy, which following tradition will receive as its nickname the radio callsign of its unit<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54216358107_8754dd0ca8_3k.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54216358107_f2cd5c0cab_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We were already able to see that <strong>the NH-90 MSPT \"Sable\" aircraft will sport a light gray scheme<\/strong>, the same as the other aircraft of the Spanish Navy. As we saw in December, <strong>the Navy will receive seven NH90 MSPTs<\/strong>, a tactical transport version with special features for operation from ships.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54216358072_87e97f40a9_b.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54216358072_87e97f40a9_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Among other features, <strong>the NH-90 MSPT \"Sable\" are equipped with automatic main rotor blade folding<\/strong>, which will facilitate operations on the flight decks of Spanish Navy ships. In addition, <strong>they have reinforced landing gear<\/strong> compared to other versions of the NH-90 operated by Spain.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54217494363_f7db1a5465_b.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54217494363_f7db1a5465_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A week ago, the Spanish Navy <a href=\"https:\/\/armada.defensa.gob.es\/ArmadaPortal\/page\/Portal\/ArmadaEspannola\/conocenosnoticias\/prefLang-es\/00noticias--2025--04--NT-047-DECIMOCUARTA-es?_selectedNodeID=5953086&_pageAction=selectItem\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> that <em>\"<strong>the first two NH-90 pilots of the Fourteenth Squadron of the Aircraft Flotilla (FLOAN), have begun receiving flight training at the MSPT<\/strong> at the Airbus Helicopters Spain facilities in Albacete. This milestone marks the beginning of the final training phase to be qualified on the first naval NH-90.\"<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54457003533_2435373f0e_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54457003533_5b297e1881_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\"After completing <strong>a theoretical phase of Ground School and a subsequent phase in the flight simulator<\/strong>, the group of pilots trained by Airbus Spain is close to completing their training after having begun flights in the helicopter,\"<\/em> the Navy said. <em>\"<strong>These flights are intended to instruct the pilot in different scenarios<\/strong>, using the tactical environment of the NH-90 MSPT both day and night with night vision goggles.\"<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54455905387_7e93889631_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54455905387_bd3c201931_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Spanish Navy has indicated that the <strong>6 pilots who are receiving training on the NH-90 MSPT with Airbus<\/strong> <em>\"are joined by 2 more pilots who have already completed their training on the NH-90 GSPA with the Air Force and, finally, a pilot who is taking the instructor course with the Army at the Agoncillo Base, Logro\u00f1o.\"<\/em> The Navy expects that once the first phase of training is completed, <em>\"<strong>the Fourteenth Squadron will have 9 pilots<\/strong> in addition to an instructor from the Italian Navy to operate <strong>the 3 aircraft that will be received throughout 2025<\/strong>, completing the reception of a total of 7 helicopters in 2026.\"<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54456934399_0a0f017e49_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54456934399_153f45cdcc_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Navy has also indicated that it <em>\"has received support from both armies' NH-90 Squadrons and Airbus Helicopters <strong>to train the maintenance team that will be in charge of operating the NH-90 \"Sable\" from the Rota Naval Station<\/strong> from the arrival of the first aircraft in the summer of 2025.\"<\/em> <strong>In the images released by the Navy we can see the first two NH-90 MSPTs<\/strong>, with registration numbers HT.29\u201339 (10345, 01-14-01) and HT.29-40 (10346, 01-14-02), according to the always very complete website <a href=\"https:\/\/aeronavesmilitaresespanolas.com\/tag\/armada-espanola\/page\/2\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aeronaves Militares Espa\u00f1olas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>---<\/p>\n<p><small>Photos: Airbus Helicopters \/ Armada Espa\u00f1ola.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In May 2024, the Spanish Navy created the 14th Squadron of its Aircraft Flotilla (FLOAN), dedicated to a new helicopter model.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19536,11545],"tags":[22365,6897,12825,8245,11462,10669],"class_list":["post-59308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-we-said-yesterday","category-navy","tag-14a-escuadrilla","tag-flotilla-de-aeronaves-de-la-armada-espanola-floan","tag-naval-station-rota","tag-nhindustries-nh90","tag-spain","tag-spanish-navy"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-12 09:34:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}