Spain Defence and Security Report Q3 2012

BMI’s Spain defence and security report examines the countries’ strategic posture, its defence industry and its defence procurement plans.

The report examines the overall structure of the Spanish armed forces, their orders of battle and command structures. It analyses the processes of defence reform which have occurred in Spain to reorient its defence posture away from only guarding NATO’s southern flank to becoming an expeditionary force which can intervene in conflicts and crises around the world.

In addition, the report examines trends in Spanish defence spending and the defence budget as a whole for the country, in addition to the value of the country’s defence imports and exports. In terms of the report’s key findings, BMI believes that the most serious issue facing the Spanish defence sector at present is balancing the country’s procurement aspirations and its strategic posture with the financial strictures facing the government. The report notes that a number of major procurement programmes are ongoing for new defence equipment in Spain, including the procurement of armoured vehicles and combat aircraft. In addition, the report outlines recent changes to the Spanish armed forces order-to-battle to make them more agile in responding to sudden crises. Moreover, the report also notes that Madrid is tentatively looking beyond the country’s involvement in Afghanistan towards future conflicts that its armed forces may be faced to tackle.

Because of the significant government spending cuts being implemented by the Spanish government, defence activity has slowed considerably in Q212. Therefore, BMI has not made any significant changes to its report.