Spain DEFENSE PRODUCTION
Unavailable
Spanish-made military equipment on display during annual
Spanish Armed Forces Day parade, Valladolid, May 29, 1984
Courtesy United States Department of Defense
Armored vehicles at military garrison near Se
Courtesy United States Department of Defense
Spanish industry manufactured a significant share of
the
material requirements of the armed forces, notably light
arms,
vehicles, ships, and light transport aircraft. As a member
of
NATO, Spain had joined in the planning of several
coproduction
projects with other West European countries. Nearly 150
firms
were engaged principally in defense production, and about
4,000
Spanish firms were linked in some way with the industry.
Four
large munitions manufacturers were directly controlled by
the
Ministry of Defense. A number of other major firms were
part of
the state holding company, the National Industrial
Institute
(Instituto Nacional de Industria--INI). A large group of
purely
private companies formed a third category. The ultimate
intention
of the Ministry of Defense was to transfer the four arms
factories to the INI.
According to a 1986 survey of firms doing business with
the
Ministry of Defense, the manufacture of electronics
accounted for
about 20 percent of Spanish defense production; military
vehicles
for about 14 percent, supply of arms for approximately
13.0
percent, naval construction for about 8.0 percent, and
aircraft
construction for approximately 6.0 percent. Production of
components and ancillary equipment made up the remaining
approximately 39 percent.
Among the leading producers of army equipment was
Empresa
Nacional de Autocamiones S.A. (ENASA), generally known by
the
trade name of Pegaso, which manufactured a range of trucks
and
armored vehicles. Its basic BLR four-wheeled armored car
was used
primarily by the Spanish army; the six-wheeled BMR also
was
exported to Saudi Arabia and to Egypt. Most of the army's
ordnance was produced by Empresa Nacional de Santa Barbara
de
Industrias Militares (Santa Barbara), including the CETME
5.56mm
rifle, in general use by the Spanish army, and the AMX-30E
tank,
based on French technology. Santa Barbara also
manufactured the
truck-mounted 140mm Teruel multiple rocket launcher.
Larger naval
vessels, including Spain's new aircraft carrier,
French-designed
submarines of the Daphne and the Agosta classes, and FFG-7
frigates of United States design, were constructed by
Empresa
Nacional Bazan de Construcciones Navales Militares (Bazan)
at San
Fernando near Cadiz.
The predominant aircraft manufacturer, Construcciones
Aeronauticas S.A. (CASA), was best known for the C-212, a
short
takeoff and landing utility plane with a three-ton
payload. The
company also produced the C-101, a trainer and light
fighter,
with assistance from West German and American aircraft
companies
that owned minority interests in CASA. The CN-235
turboprop, a
forty-seat airliner with a military version, was being
built in
cooperation with an Indonesian firm. CASA also was
reported in
1987 to be at the design stage of a plane--the Avion
Experimental
(AX)--that might be selected to replace the F-5 tactical
fighters
obtained from the United States. This would be an advanced
version, of the C-101 with an engine of much greater
horsepower.
CASA also assembled French-supplied kits for Aerospatiale
Super
Puma helicopters. It was the principal Spanish firm
involved with
British, West German, and Italian firms in the Eurofighter
consortium planning an entirely new fighter aircraft for
the
latter half of the 1990s that was expected to replace the
Mirages
in the existing Spanish inventory.
Among other more advanced systems either being produced
or in
the planning phase were the French-designed Roland and the
Italian Aspide air defense missile systems and the
European
attack helicopter AB-129. The latter was being developed
in
collaboration with Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands,
with
production foreseen for the 1990s.
The relatively small scale of Spain's own military
orders
spurred the Spanish armaments industry to develop its
export
potential and to increase its share of the international
arms
market. By 1987 it had risen to eighth rank as a world
exporter,
with a number of clients in the Middle East and in Latin
America.
In an analysis of 1985 results by an industry group, the
Spanish
Arms Manufacturers Association, export sales by member
firms (125
billion pesetas) exceeded sales to the Ministry of Defense
(90
billion pesetas).
As of 1988, Spain enforced sales embargoes against
countries
accused of human rights violations (e.g., South Africa,
Chile,
and Paraguay), Warsaw Pact and other communist countries,
and
active belligerents (e.g., Iran and Iraq). The Spanish
press has,
however, reported widespread violations of these controls,
especially in the form of munitions shipments to Iran and
to
Iraq. Spain also had joined with other North Atlantic
Treaty
Organization (NATO) countries and Japan in controlling the
export
of militarily sensitive goods to communist destinations
through
the Paris-based Co-ordinating Committee for Multilateral
Export
Controls (COCOM).
Data as of December 1988
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