The CAOC Torrejón celebrates the meeting of NATO Southern Area Control Centres

•  Representatives from 14 countries attended with the aim of sharing experiences, standardising processes, updating regulations and unifying working methods

Representatives from the Command and Reporting Centres (CRCs) of the countries comprising NATO's Southern Area are participating in the meeting held at NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOCT) in order to share experiences, standardise processes, update regulations and unify working methods among those who make up the Southern Airspace in order to maintain its surveillance and protection.

The delegation was received upon arrival by the Commander-in-Chief of CAOCT, Lieutenant General Juan Pablo Sánchez de Lara, who welcomed them, highlighting this meeting as one of the most important held at this unit.

Fourteen countries from the southern region attended the meeting. Specifically, these were Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Türkiye. Austria and Canada attended as guest nations, as did members of AIRCOM, CAOC in Uedem (Germany, Northern Zone) and DACC (Deployable Air Command and Control Centre), together with the NATO agency providing CIS services (NCIA).

TORREJÓN COMBINED AIR OPERATIONS CENTRE (NATO)

The CAOC Torrejón, under the direct command of a lieutenant general of the Spanish Air and Space Force, has as its main mission to plan, direct, coordinate, supervise, analyse and report on air defence operations in Southern Europe, following the directives of the NATO Air Component Command on whom it depends and with the resources that nations assign to NATO in peacetime.

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