Spanish Army Air Defence Command Explained

The Spanish Army Air Defence Command (Spanish: Mando de Artillería Antiaérea, MAAA) is a command of the Spanish Army, based in Madrid; composed of anti-air artillery units under a same command, formed, trained and equipped to contribute, into a joint or joint/combined frame, to the air space control and defense. Those units may act either in the national territory or as a reinforcement to allied organization based on the joint and Army specific doctrine.^[1]

The MAAA is composed of a General Quarter and a set of anti-aircraft artillery units and units of combat support.

The units belonging to the MAAA are:

• 71st Anti-air Artillery Regiment in Madrid with Mistral surface-to-air missiles and 35/90 Guns
• 73rd Anti-air Artillery Regiment in Cartagena, Murcia with Skyguard-Aspide surface-to-air missile systems and NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems, also in Valencia with MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems
• 74th Anti-air Artillery Regiment in San Roque, Cádiz and at Base El Copero in Dos Hermanas, Seville with HAWK PIP III surface-to-air missile systems
• 81st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment of Marines in Valencia
• Signal Battalion in Madrid and at Base El Copero in Dos Hermanas, Seville

The 94th Anti-air Artillery Regiment, which fields NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems falls under operational control of the Canarias General Command.

The 72nd Anti-Air Artillery Regiment was disbanded in December 2015.

See also

• Structure of the Spanish Army

Notes and References

1. Instrucción núm. 59/2005, de 4 de abril, del Jefe de Estado Mayor del Ejército sobre Normas de Organización y Funcionamiento del Ejército de Tierra, published in Spanish Ministry of Defense Official Publication (Boletín Oficial de Defensa, BOD) #80 of April 26th of 2005