This is an impressive picture that shows a then up to date Baleares frigate, an AMX-30 tank, and a F4C Phantom fighter plane. A show of strength while the reality was shrinkage, weapons received second hand by charity, and integration of the power into NATO. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
When the military of any nation is shrinking, and the mission changing, there will be a lot of uncertainty in the ranks. Indeed a year after the stamp there was an attempted coup. The changes also brought an end to the isolation Spain dealt with under Franco. Showing newer weapons was perhaps trying to show a way forward. It was still an iffy time,
Todays stamp is issue A570, an 8 Peseta stamp issued on May 24th, 1980. It was a single stamp issue for Armed Forces Day. There was a similar issue in 1979. There was not one in 1981 after the attempted coup. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.
After Franco ended his long rule in 1975, the Monarchy was restored. King Juan Carlos fairly quickly replaced Franco’s people with those from the left. There was also an attempt to bring the military under control by combining the separate Army, Air Force and Navy ministries under a unified defense department. The military was shrinking rapidly with Empire commitments at an end and conscription scaled back. There was a movement toward NATO integration which was achieved in 1982. A rough time but the absence of Franco meant that doors of cooperation around Europe were opening. Those steeped in the long tradition of the Spanish Army may be forgiven if they viewed such changes skeptically.
The F4C Phantom fighter plane was a left over from earlier times. They were ex USA Air Force machines that were given free of charge to Spain in 1971 under the Peace Alfa aid program. At the time the USA Air Force was flying F4Es from a Spanish air base. Spain retired the F4C in 1989.
The Baleares class frigate was a license built copy of the American Knox class frigate. Again a left over from Franco, they were built a little later than the Knox and lasted longer in service, being retired in the early 2000s.
The AMX 30 tank was also still from the Franco period and license made from France. Interestingly Spain had originally chosen the superior Chieftain tank, but Britain had refused to sell to Franco. France has a tradition of selling arms more liberally. They were replaced by second hand Leopard II tanks donated from Germany.
Today the Spanish Army numbers about 85,000, about a third of it’s strength under Franco. There is no longer a draft and less second hand equipment, as Spain participates as a junior partner in many integrated European projects like the Eurofighter and the Airbus tactical transport A400M.
Well my drink is empty and so I will open the discussion in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story to be learned from stamp collecting.