Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. (August 12, 2024): In this photo by Airman 1st Class Jarrett Smith, Spanish Air and Space Force Soldiers from the 14th Wing load simulated weaponry onto a Spanish Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon during exercise Arctic Defender. The maneuvers are part of a months-long deployment in the Indo-Pacific involving the U.S., Germany, France, and Spain. Over 500 personnel from the U.S., German, French, Spanish and Canadian air forces as well as the U.S. Marine Corps participated in the exercises held at Eielson Air Force Base.

This deployment stretches across the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and India. The French, German and Spanish Air Forces contributed forty-eight aircraft including twelve German Tornados, eight German and four Spanish Eurofighters, four French Rafales jets, four German H145M light helicopters, and four German refueling aircraft. For the Spanish, this is the first deployment of this kind in recent history. In fact, this is being considered as the most ambitious project of Spain since the Atlantic crossing of pioneering Spanish aviators in the 1920s. A major milestone was the flight of Spanish A400M transport aircraft over the North Pole to Alaska.

Spain and Germany will share the maintenance of the Eurofighters and A400Ms as well as the logistics of the deployment. This will allow the two countries to improve their interoperability, as well as reducing the logistical footprint and increasing efficiency. With over 850,000 flight hours, the Eurofighter Typhoon forms the backbone of the German, British, Italian, and Spanish air forces.

These exercises will move to a new phase in the coming weeks with deployments to Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Qatar, and Egypt.