Spain has finalized a $1.7 billion procurement agreement with Raytheon for the acquisition of four Patriot air and missile defense batteries, reinforcing the country’s contribution to NATO’s integrated air defense architecture.
The contract covers 24 M903 launch stations, four AN/MPQ-65 radars, four AN/MSQ-132 engagement control stations, along with two coordination and information centers and four power generation units. The sale received US State Department approval in October 2023, followed by Spain’s final endorsement in mid-2024.
Although the initial foreign military sale authorization included 51 PAC-3 MSE interceptors, these missiles do not appear to be included in the current agreement. Instead, Spain signed a €400 million deal earlier in 2024 with Raytheon and MBDA for GEM-T interceptors, under a multinational NATO framework involving Germany, the Netherlands, and Romania. The country has also reportedly completed a separate purchase of PAC-3 MSE missiles from Lockheed Martin.
Spain presently fields three Patriot batteries obtained from Germany, operated by the Spanish Army’s 73rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment stationed in Marines, near Valencia. Each battery consists of six launchers, capable of deploying up to 20 missiles. Since 2015, Spain has maintained a rotational Patriot deployment in southern Turkey as part of NATO’s Active Fence mission, supporting ballistic missile defense operations in the region.
