The Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia visits the Torrejón Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC)

• The Prime Minister thanked the CAOC commander for the service rendered by the centre to the common goal of collective defence of the allied countries

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, visited the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre in Spain (CAOC TJ) this morning. During the visit, he was accompanied by the Ambassador to Spain, Nives Malenica, the Commander of the Croatian Air Force, Brigadier General Michael Križanec, and a mixed delegation composed of the Presidential Team and the Embassy.

The delegation was received by the CAOC Commander, Lieutenant General Fernando de la Cruz, as well as by a formation composed of representatives of each of the nations with personnel assigned to the centre.

After the Croatian Prime Minister signed the book of honour, General De la Cruz gave the Croatian delegation a presentation on the capabilities and resources of the centre for the performance of its mission. This was followed by a tour of the operations room, where examples of real activities were shown.

The Croatian Prime Minister thanked the CAOC commander for the service provided by the centre to the common goal of the collective defence of the countries that make up the Alliance. He also thanked the staff for their efforts, commitment and dedication to this end.

Following the Prime Minister's visit, General De la Cruz held a technical meeting with General Križanec, Commander of the Croatian Air Force, in which aspects related to operations in the Torrejón CAOC's area of responsibility were discussed.

Torrejón Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC)

Under the organic command of Allied Air Command within the NATO command structure, CAOCs are responsible for planning, tasking, directing, directing, coordinating and supervising the air operations of aircraft assigned by member nations in their area of responsibility. The Uedem CAOC oversees areas such as Iceland and the Baltic Sea, and the Torrejon CAOC is responsible for the Black Sea region; both CAOCs work with the corresponding national warning and control centres to fulfil the mission of safeguarding NATO airspace throughout Europe.

The main mission of the Torrejón CAOC, under the direct command of a Lieutenant General of the Spanish Air Force, is to plan, direct, coordinate, supervise, analyse and report on air defence operations in Southern Europe, following the directives of the NATO Air Component Command to which it reports and with the means assigned to NATO by the nations in peacetime.

The Spanish Armed Forces make an important contribution to the mission carried out by this centre. Some 120 military personnel serve in the CAOC itself as well as in the National Support Element (NSE) and the NATO Communications and Information Agency Unit (NCIA).