Spain Army

The Ejercito de Tierra is headquartered at the Buenavista Palace in Madrid. Operational land forces are organized into the High Readiness Force Headquarters in Betera, the Land Force, and the Canary Islands General Command, which oversees ground defense in the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla. Tactical formations are structured under two main divisions. Division Castillejos, headquartered in Huesca, commands combined-arms maneuver units including the Guzman el Bueno X, Extremadura XI, Guadarrama XII, Aragon I, Galicia VII, and Rey Alfonso XIII II de La Legion brigades. Division San Marcial, headquartered in Burgos, consolidates specialized rapid-deployment forces, integrating the Paratrooper Brigade Almogavares VI, the Roncesvalles Mountain Troops Command, the Special Operations Command, and army aviation.

Armored and mechanized infantry units field Leopard 2E and Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks, Pizarro infantry fighting vehicles, VRC-105 Centauro reconnaissance vehicles, and BMR-600 armored personnel carriers. Light and motorized elements operate VAMTAC high-mobility tactical vehicles. Artillery formations operate SIAC 155/52 towed howitzers, M109A5 self-propelled howitzers, and L118 towed light guns. Air defense units employ Patriot, NASAMS, Hawk, and Mistral 3 surface-to-air missile systems alongside 35mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns. The army aviation command, Fuerzas Aeromoviles del Ejercito de Tierra, operates Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters, NH90 Caiman and Cougar utility helicopters, CH-47F Chinook heavy transport helicopters, and H135 light utility helicopters.

Deployments focus on NATO, United Nations, and European Union missions. Spain serves as the framework nation for NATO's Multinational Brigade in Slovakia and maintains a mechanized detachment with Leopard 2E tanks and Pizarro vehicles in NATO's Multinational Brigade in Latvia. Under United Nations command, the army fields a mechanized infantry contingent in southern Lebanon as part of UNIFIL, commanding Sector East from the Miguel de Cervantes base near Marjayoun. Additional international commitments include training and capacity-building detachments for NATO Mission Iraq and European Union military missions in Somalia, Mozambique, and the Central African Republic.

Force modernization aligns with the Fuerza 2035 initiative, designed to structure forces around digitized multi-role brigade configurations. Procurement programs include the induction of VCR 8x8 Dragon armored infantry fighting vehicles, produced by the domestic TESS Defence consortium, to replace legacy wheeled platforms. The Vehiculo de Apoyo a Cadenas program provides a modular tracked platform to replace M113 vehicles in support, mortar carrier, and command roles. Long-range rocket artillery capabilities are being restored through the Sistema Lanzador de Alta Movilidad program. Air defense capabilities are being updated through upgrades to Patriot and NASAMS systems, while aviation modernization includes the transition to CH-47F Chinook standards and ongoing NH90 Caiman deliveries.