The Armada is not entirely wrong when it says that the continued operation of a flying fixed-wing component on the carrier "Juan Carlos I" (and thus also the carrier itself) can only be guaranteed by the purchase of a certain number of American Lockheed Martin F-35B short/vertical take-off and landing jets of the 5th generation (STOVL).

Spain's decision to spend 80% of its defence investment exclusively at national level - and not to apply NATO's 3.5% target to itself - is now preventing a medium-term solution. In the long term - and if the next Spanish aircraft carrier from 2040 onwards were to be a smooth-body aircraft - a number of other models could be considered, such as the Rafale-M, Super Hornet or the French-European FCAS. In four years at the latest, however, the Harriers will no longer be maintainable once all other users have retired them. Then it will be lonely on the flight deck of the JUAN CARLOS I. Although no one has dared to say it publicly to date, the government of Pedro Sanchez never intended to authorise such a purchase - it has simply ignored the Navy's request for five years for party-political reasons. At the beginning of August, the Armada leadership learnt of the decision from the pro-government press - it now has to reorganise itself. Spanish ingenuity, however, will certainly not leave the upper deck of the carrier orphaned!