The Spanish Armed Forces have been involved in celebrating the 250 years of U.S. independence. The three branches of the military have deployed equipment and soldiers in the country led by Donald Trump to carry out maneuvers and participate in exhibitions to commemorate the event. However, despite the festive atmosphere, on the return trip, part of the equipment sent has returned damaged.
Three helicopters were affected, two EC665 Tiger models and one AS532 Cougar. These aircraft are part of the Spanish Army's Airmobile Forces and now need to be repaired in Spain.
The incident occurred on June 14th, as reported by the Defense Staff to EL MUNDO. During the execution phase of exercise FLEETEX 250, "a spontaneous atmospheric phenomenon, not predicted by meteorological services, caused damage to the three Army helicopters stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps New River Base."
According to the statement, the phenomenon is called a microburst and is an extremely intense and localized downward air column that originates within an electrical storm. Upon impact with the ground, the electrical storm caused material damage to the three aircraft, with no personal injuries reported.
The helicopters were stationed while preparing for training activities with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit during the mentioned exercise, aimed at enhancing interoperability with allied air and naval forces.
The information emerged after several users of X (formerly Twitter) posted snapshots showing the stranded helicopters. The Fleetex-250 exercise took place on the U.S. East Coast at the end of June. On the 29th, the Defense Staff reported in a note that "the Spanish Armed Forces, through the 'Atlantic Deployment 26' Expeditionary Combat Group, have successfully completed their participation in the multinational FLEETEX-250 exercise on the U.S. East Coast." The lengthy text, accompanied by snapshots, did not mention the helicopter incident at any point.