(Naval Air Arm) EAV-8B Matador IIs. This
limited the country’s expeditionary capability.
The problem of low refuelling speeds was
especially troublesome for the F1. With the
arrival of the 707s this issue was resolved.
They received the Sargent Fletcher SFC-
34-000 hose and drogue system which
was installed on each wing making them
two-point tankers. The aircraft are capable
of transferring 158,000lb (71,667kg) of fuel,
although 90,000lb (40,823kg) is the most
that has ever been passed to receivers
during a sortie as to carry a full load would
cause excessive fatigue on the airframe.As well as keeping the nation’s fast-jet
aircrew current in air-to-air refuelling (the
RF-4Cs and F1s have been retired but
Euro ghter EF2000s are now in service), the
707 tankers have also been used for long
distance deployments, for example assisting
fast-jets to get to exercises in North America
such as Red Flag, Green Flag and Cope
Thunder. The rst such trail took place in
1994 when the Spanish Air Force participated
in Red Flag at Nellis AFB, Nevada for the rst
time. Two 707s accompanied four Hornets
each, with stops in Lajes AB in the Azores
and Langley AFB, Virginia.Boeing 707, TK.17-1/47-01 participated in
Operation Uni ed Protector in Libya in 2011,
providing fuel to Spanish Hornets and other
coalition aircraft. From March 19 until June
20 that year, the 707 undertook 68 refuelling
missions, involving 384 ying hours,
transferring 1.5 million litres of fuel. This
aircraft (together with a KC-130H) remained
assigned to this tasking until October 31,
2 011.TRANSPORT DUTIES
Despite giving up the VIP duties there are
plenty of other general transport tasks
that have been ful lled by the 707s, such
as weekly logistical support ights to the
air bases of Gando on Gran Canaria in
the Canary Islands and Son San Juan on
Majorca in the Balearics.
The type has been employed in almost
every international mission of the Spanish
armed forces, from Africa to Central
America and Afghanistan. Among the rst
such missions was to support naval units
deployed in the Persian Gulf from 1990
onwards after Iraq invaded Kuwait, ying
to several destinations in the Middle East
and undertaking personnel rotations and
the transport of materiel. In the 1990s
numerous ights were conducted carrying
troops to the former Yugoslavia.
More recently, the 707s were supporting
operations in Afghanistan. There were
regular ights to Manas in Kyrgyzstan
transporting personnel and materiel that
were then transferred to a C-130H for
the last leg to Herat, where the Spanish
headquarters were located. From 2010
the aircraft made use of the transit centre
established by the US military at Dushanbe,
Tajikistan until the coalition managed
to make Herat Airport operational for
commercial ights which simpli ed thehttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 23Above: Boeing 707-351C, TM.17-4/47-04 was
used for electronic intelligence gathering and
jamming as well as command and control.
Note the lumps and bumps on the aircraft’s
fuselage for its specialised equipment.
Antonio Camarasa
Left: One of the 707s involved in a medical
evacuation mission. Ejército del AireA close-up of one of the 707’s Pratt & Whitney JT3D-7 turbofans. Rodrigo Rodríguez Costa20-24_707sDC.mfDC.indd 23 30/12/2015 16:41