On Thursday, King Felipe of Spain visited Cartagena’s Military Arsenal to tour the Anti-Mines Measures Force.
The force is part of the Army, but also has ties with the Spanish Navy, which supports it in its underwater detection missions.
The Anti-Mines Measures Force is part of both the Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures task force and the European Maritime Force, which means that Spanish members take part in multiple international exercises.
After being welcomed by the Chief of the Army and the Chief of the Force, King Felipe toured the facilities and visited a training class that was undergoing a simulation of mine disarming on an all-Spanish built simulator.
After that, His Majesty moved to La Algameca Navy Station, where he witnessed a simulation of a port protection operation, with the search, discovery and disarming of a simulated mine.
At the end of the demonstration, he boarded the mine chaser Tambre, where he presided over the launch of the mini-submarine mine chaser Pluto Plus and observed its potential for mine chasing and disarming activities.
The Anti-Mine Force is directly under the command of the Army, and is made of 6 mine chasers of Segura class. Their main objectives are the protection of ports and the safeguarding of the Navy’s terrestrial missions.
The mine chasers combat system is entirely produced in Spain, which has focussed all of its attention on discretion in both the sonar system and the magnetic detection system.
King Felipe has been heavily involved in Spain’s military development and innovation, especially when the new technologies are created and produced in the country.
His Majesty is the Chief of the Armed Forces, and, in preparation for his role, after completing his high school education, he underwent military training in three branches of the Spanish Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. It is said that he still maintains excellent relations with his fellow cadets, and that he even has dinner with them from time to time.
