Rear Admiral Gonzalo Villar, head of the armed forces’ Dédalo 24 expeditionary battle group, gets goosebumps when he remembers that a few days ago, when the Navy’s flagship docked in Istanbul, a waiter asked for the silence of the diners to publicly thank some of the crew for the humanitarian aid after the earthquake in Turkey. Despite the fact that the main task of the Spanish deployment is to directly support NATO’s deterrence and defense strategy, Villar says that he did not hesitate a little over a year ago when asking for permission to completely divert the course of the expedition.
In less than 48 hours, after the earthquake, the group provided ships, vehicles, helicopters, landing craft and more than a thousand military personnel to save lives. Ten days later, the same children who were among the rubble made an amphibious landing on a beach in Albania, in full training for the Atlantic Alliance.
The Dédalo 24 expeditionary group, under the control of the operations command, has been sailing again on Tuesdays since the beginning of the month. From Turkey to Helsinki, more than 13,000 miles according to Villar’s estimates, for three months, in which it will join the most important naval maneuvers that NATO is doing in the Mediterranean and the Baltic.
From the air, you can see how the aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I, the amphibious assault ship Galicia and the frigates Blas de Lezo and Reina Sofía navigate the compass. From the inside, authentic cities that host seven of the legendary Harrier aircraft of the Navy and a hospital with up to two operating theaters and a state-of-the-art laboratory. A whole gear to “contribute to the message of deterrence to avoid risks”, explains Villar. “Let it be clear that it is not profitable to carry out any aggression against a NATO allied country”, insists the rear admiral.
According to the military commands, the first weeks of sailing have been carried out under “intense activity” of surveillance in the Mediterranean in support of the Alliance’s Sea Guardian operation, which fights against transnational terrorism. They have also done bilateral activities with the armed forces of Greece and Turkey. The aim is, in addition to increasing mutual knowledge, to demonstrate the capabilities of NATO’s navies to plan and execute operations as complex as amphibious and naval aircraft, “the two main vectors of naval power projection” of daedalus “It is proof of Spain’s commitment to the Alliance, to the European Union and to maritime security”, adds Villar about the expedition, which is divided into different phases, which coincide with defense exercises with allied countries, such as now those that have enabled amphibious operations in the Peloponnese and the islands of Skiros and Crete, when a Greek frigate has been integrated into Daedalus.
This week is the turn of the Neptune Strike, NATO’s biggest display of naval muscle in the face of the Russian threat, in full aggression in Ukraine. The seven Harrier aircraft fly over the skies of Slovakia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Montenegro and Albania. “The activities are a visible demonstration of the allies’ ability to cooperate and integrate effectively, proof of the strong cohesion and trust between all, as well as an opportunity to improve readiness”, summary from the operations command .
“The idea of ??deterrence”, details Villar, is to “demonstrate the capacity”. NATO puts to sea, acting in unison, four aircraft carriers – from France, Italy and Turkey, in addition to the Spanish one -, 18 more satellite ships, 48 ??aircraft – including fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters – , more than 4,600 military personnel from 15 countries with two Marine infantry battalions. And all with a radius of action of 2,700 kilometers. “It’s a very powerful message. When deciding whether to attack someone is an element of judgment that must be taken into account”, adds the commander.
In the coming days, the expedition will change course to go to the North Sea, after stopping in Gijón. One of the milestones will take place there: a helicopter from Sweden, which has just joined NATO, will interact for the first time with an allied ship.
