Exercise 'Swift Response 25' Concludes: Parachute Brigade (BRIPAC) Demonstrates its Leadership as a Multinational Initial Entry Force

 This exercise has posed a logistical challenge and served as a showcase of operational efficiency, notably featuring the sequential airdrop of a field artillery battery equipped with four L118 Light Guns

Exercise Swift Response 25 has come to a close, during which the ‘Almogávares’ VI Parachute Brigade (BRIPAC in Spanish) led, for the first time outside national territory, a multinational Joint Forcible Entry (JFE) force in Latvia (JFE LVA). This exercise is part of the U.S.-led Defender Europe 25 series.

Following the parachute insertion phase and subsequent regrouping, the JFE moved to the Mežaine and Ādaži training and firing ranges in Latvia, where manoeuvre training activities were conducted to enable the tactical groups to consolidate control over key terrain points.

Among BRIPAC’s key deployed capabilities was its Engineer Unit, which provided combat teams with the ability to respond to and manage explosive threats, support movement across varied operational environments, and implement obstacles to secure and defend strategic objectives.

This included the use of electromagnetic detectors, explosives, and anti-tank mines—all carried by the paratrooper sappers themselves.

According to Brigadier General Pedro Luis Gutiérrez Alcalá, Commander of the Parachute Brigade and head of the JFE LVA, the exercise ‘has enhanced the capabilities of the Parachute Brigade as an Initial Entry Force—from the planning phase through execution—including land, maritime, and airborne projection, with parachute insertions using high-altitude manual opening, automatic opening, and equipment drops. Of particular note was the sequential airdrop of a field artillery battery with four L118 Light Guns.’

The General also highlighted that this multinational training activity ‘has improved interoperability at both the joint level—with Wing 31 (T-23 aircraft) and EADA (CCT units)—and the combined level, working alongside our allied nations, particularly the United States.’

For his part, Commander Fernando Valencia Martínez, Head of Air Operations, emphasised that thanks to coordination among key actors—including the Spanish Air and Space Force’s Wing 31, Riga Airport, Latvian Airspace Control, and the Parachute Brigade—’all insertion objectives were met, including tactical flight operations for all approaches to drop zones at altitudes of just 300 metres above ground level.’

The projection of personnel and materiel from Spain to Latvia for participation in SR25, along with the operational and training activities conducted, demonstrate the Brigade’s high level of responsiveness, adaptability, and operational effectiveness in complex and demanding scenarios. Furthermore, it reaffirms Spain’s role as a committed actor in collective defence, particularly in the protection of NATO’s eastern flank, alongside partner and allied nations.

Swift Response 25 (SR25), 11–31 May

This first iteration of SR25—two more are to follow—focused on the execution of five near-simultaneous airborne operations across Finland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden. During this phase, medical operations, rapid infiltration training of high-mobility artillery systems, air assault missions, live-fire exercises, and operational experimentation were also conducted.

Within this framework, Spain led the Initial Entry Force (JFE) in Latvia, deploying a Brigade-level command post and two paratrooper tactical groups with supporting units. In total, around 650 personnel, two A400 aircraft, and more than 20 vehicles were deployed, all led by the Parachute Brigade. Additionally, the Spanish Tactical Subgroup already deployed in Latvia as part of NATO’s Eastern Flank operation took part in SR25 as the opposing force. 

Following the conclusion of Swift Response 25, exercises Immediate Response and Saber Guardian 25 will commence consecutively, with substantial participation from Spanish forces.