On Thursday morning A maritime action ship (BAM) of the Navy carries out enlistment work in the Naval Base of Cartagena To face the mission of assistance to Global Civil Flot Sumud of Help to Gazain which Spanish citizens participate. It is about BAM P-46 Furor, as this newspaper said. For security reasons, the Navy has been maintaining official silence about which ship the designated was.
So far, the armed forces have acted in Protection and extraction missions of Spanish civilians that will be retained in an area of conflict due to the outbreak of it -as was the case of the NEO OPERATIONS (This is what the Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation are called in NATO in Afghanistan, Sudan or the recent repatriation of Spaniards residing in Israel-, but there are no precedents of a Spanish intervention of military security protecting Spanish citizens who come to a conflict zone, except exceptional interventions of the CNI during kidnappings.
This lack of precedents contributes to the novelty of the announcement made by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, This Wednesday, on the shipment of a maritime action ship of the Navy to assist the Gaza aid flotilla.
Apart from US internal political translation, the operation has military and international law components. These are your technical keys.
The Bam Furor, in an official photo of the Navy made in 2021 / Armada
It has been speculated on the various senses that, on the stage of Israel and Gaza, has the word “protect”, referred to the Global Sumud flotilla. But Pedro Sánchez did not pronounce that verb during the press conference he offered this Wednesday. He said the Spanish war ship It must “attend the flotilla” and “if necessary,” that is, if there were injuries or citizens in danger, “perform a rescue.”
Navy sources clarify that the mission that is responsible for the Spanish vessel is not for determination, or interposition, or any war action … “The exact mission is to deploy a BAM to attend if necessary,” these sources indicate. “It is not planned to act against drones or against vessels; Only assistance, ”they add.
In fact, the ship has no order to integrate into the Flotilla Global Sumudnor to navigate to your side, but At a discreet distanceenough to provide prompt help.
The ship embarrass a Role 1 hospital. That is the basic unit of military health, and usually composes of a medical chief (or two), one or two Nurses or nurses (depending on the seriousness of the situation, with the capacity to assist surgery) and a scalable number of Sanitary Assistants. The Role 1 mission is summarized in two words: “Stabilize and evacuate,” explains a senior officer doctor.
A role 1 is sent because “the Mediterranean is considered It is an easy sea for evacuationswith short distances and nearby media, ”he adds.
A role 1 is conceived to stabilize injured and prepare them, if necessary, for its Evacuation to upper steps hospitals, Role 1 and Role 2. When the time comes, that embarmed hospital can receive assistance of the sailors designated by the ship’s captain For collection, evacuations or transport of injured.
Now, Spain – as Italy – does not send a civil ship, but a warship. That nuance is key in this case, since its presence entails an inevitable effect of deterrence -also warning- For hostile actions against the flotilla. And it is not because the ship was going to shoot some of its weapons, but because It acts as a witness.
The Testing mission has a range in international law. “Often, military missions abroad entail that added commission,” explains an officer of the Army. Being a witness in a conflict zone entails reporting, based on the acquisition of intelligence, to raise information “to the level of political decision”, This source says, also in allusion to the Government’s diplomatic step.
Marine infants of the Bam Furor security team. Navy / Armada
It is the great unknown that opens as soon as Bam Furor sails. Pedro Sánchez explained Wednesday that the executive’s intention is to guarantee the Law of Spanish citizens “to navigate the Mediterranean in security conditions ”.
That same right is the one that, for example, guarantees the frigates that Spain sends to the Indian in the Atalanta operation. But in this case a waters ship affected by piracy is not sent, but to what is ultimately a war set.
Through a statement, Israel has warned that it will not allow interference in what it considers military operations scenario and a growing amount of states considers the scenario of a genocide. Space for all kinds of incidents opens here.
In principle, the fury cannot enter a sea territory of another country if it is not for the so -called “innocent step” or by invitation, or in transit. His presence in the Eastern Mediterranean does not obey any of those causes.
If there were an accident, I would have the right to enter those waters “in rescue and rescue mission,” says a ship captain not involved in the operation.
Spain has recognized the official existence of the state of Palestine. Israel considers the waters that Gaza bathe, and effectively exercise dominance over that area of the Mediterranean. He has demonstrated it several times when He has sent quick vessels with marina infants or special operations commands to intercept vessels of pacifists or prolastation volunteers.
There is a Added problem, which is not a forecast but a reality: drones. So far, there is no officially communicated identification of the authorship of the Drones attacks near Greece which have referred to the members of the Sumud Global Fleet. The attribution difficulty of an attack of these characteristics – it can be from Israel or can be of Hamas to cause European intervention in the conflict – considerably hinder the decisions of the fury commander and, therefore, also those of the political command in Madrid.
The Bam Furor is delivered by the Navy -which sends the Admiral Antonio Piñeiro– To the Chief of Staff of the Defense, that another admiral sends, Teodoro Esteban López Calderón. The military decisions of the mission are, therefore, of the central command of the Armed Forces, but “The last instance is, more than outdoors or in defense, in Moncloa,” says one of the sources consulted.
In Madrid, Israel is not expected to act militarily against the Global Sumud flotilla. “They could Use police forces instead of military; It would make more sense. They would consider it an illegal entry into the territory, and not a military action, “explains an Navy officer not linked to the operation.
In that operation, the flotilla ships could be stopped by other ships, Israelis in this case. In the interception action, they could disable the engine of one of the flotilla vessels, and there the Italian naval units or the fury for “Rescue ships to the garet”, duck.
In a conflict it is known what is the approach of a mission, “It is known how it begins, but never how it ends,” warns one of the military sources consulted.
Bam Furor deployment in Operation is Guardian from NATO in July 2023 / Armada
As the Navy is structured, the maritime action ship (or BAM) is the Basic unit for patrol and security work on the high seas, hence its technical name, before BAM, was that of “ocean patrolman.” It is not a unit designed for attacks, nor for a solo defense before high intensity war actionssuch as an air attack or missile bombardment.
Italy has diverted the course of a Multipurpose frigate, the virgininio fasanto direct it to furrowed waters by the Sumud Global Flotilla. This is a 140 -meter length ship, with capabilities far superior to those of the fury in The defense of the air, antibuque o antisubmarinas.
The fury, out of Navantia’s shipyards in Ferrol, is a BAM of the newest of the six that the Navy has. Since 2017 it is in navigation conditionsalthough he had no commander until 2019. It measures 93 meters in length and carries as armament (the officially known or statement) two 12.7 millimeter machine guns (large caliber, but not the largest) yun 76 mm cannon. You can also board a helicopter with anti -submarine capabilities.
Regularly operated by between 30 and 55 crew, the ship has space for house 80 rescued peopleand food to attend them for 48 hours. Officially, the Navy considers it suitable for “sea control operations in low intensity stages.”
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