From October the 17th to the 30th, air forces planes will cross the Canary skies once again in what will be the second edition of the OCEAN SKY exercise. The archipelago will be the setting where air combat training between fighter jets of different characteristics or DACT (Dissimilar Air Combat Training) will take place.
The purposes of OCEAN SKY 20 are training and evaluation of air combat units and support units, as well as maintaining the high level of preparation of Command and Control capabilities, also integrating allied air forces units in an air superiority campaign.
On this occasion, the Spanish Air Force will participate with all Fighter Units, 11, 12 , 14 , 15 and 46 Wings. 31 Wing will deploy a TK.23 (A-400M) air to air refueling capable. (AAR). The units responsible for logistics and CIS will be CIGES, el EADA, el SEADA, GRUMOCA, ECAO Las Palmas, GRUALERCON and UMAAD of Zaragoza. In addition, the Spanish Navy will participate with their Harrier AV-8B + jets of the 9th Squadron.
The invited foreign forces will be attended by France, with its 4e Escadre and 30e Escadre of Dassault Rafale multifunction aircraft, its 31e Escadre with a C-135FR refueling aircraft and the Boeing E-3F Sentry belonging to the 36e Escadre. The exercise will be carried out in four phases: deployment, integration of forces, execution and withdrawal.
Despite the health situation due to COVID-19, the Spanish Air Force and the allied air forces remain ready, trained and operational. A number of sanitary measures have been implemented in order to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 during the exercise, such as creation of bubble groups, limitation of capacity, daily temperature controls, as well as supply of masks and hydroalcoholic gel; Likewise, teams of trackers are available to monitor and control any possible cases.
The Spanish Air Force, together with the rest of the Armed Forces, contributes militarily to international commitments with exercises such as OCEAN SKY 20 within the framework of the multinational organizations of which Spain is a part.
