An Interview with Colonel Enrique Martinez Vallas, Chief of the Acquisition Programs Section, Spanish Air Force

In the run up to SMi’s 15th annual conference on Unmanned Aerial Systems, Colonel Enrique Martinez Vallas, Chief of the Acquisition Programs Section at the Spanish Air Force, was asked a few questions regarding the conference taking place on 19th and 20th November and about the integration of Unmanned Systems within the Military sphere. Details are available at www.uasconference.com

Colonel Enrique Martinez Vallas was born in Madrid and he joined the Spanish Air Force as an airman in 1977. Graduated from the Air Academy was selected for jet fighter training. He was selected for the Air Staff Course in 1996 and he graduated in MBA at UNED University in 2009. He was has been project officer for the F-18 MLU program in 1998 and for the implementation of the NATO Command Structure CAOC in Torrejon in 2011. He completed two tours in the European Air Group in RAF High Wycombe, UK. Promoted to Colonel in 2012, Col Vallas has been TLP Commandant (Tactical Leadership Program, 10 member nations) for two years and in 2014 he was appointed Head of the Acquisitions Programs Section in the Spanish Air Force Headquarters.

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SMi: Please describe to us your role and current activities.

I am currently working for the Spanish Directorate of Armaments within the MoD. I have been recently nominated as Program Chief with visibility over air-related procurement programs as MRTT, MALE, FCAS, UCAV, A400M, NH90 and many other.

SMi: What do you believe to be the Air Force really need in order to achieve complete and harmonious integration of UAV’s?

When deployed, we have no problem on integrating UAV´s in operational environments. It is at home when frictions arise. But training is important and this is often done over homeland areas. We need to demonstrate that the RPAS are an extraordinary tool for the combatant forces but also there is a need to use them at home and there are several important roles that they can play when not in operations, as immigration control, sea pollution control, against smuggling and trafficking where the benefits are directly affecting the population of our territories. Thus the complete integration into civilian airspace would become a reality when we demonstrate that RPAS flying is safe and beneficial for the population.

SMi: Where do you see the biggest opportunities within UAS within the Air Force?

The air forces have the ambition of managing/operating every possible device that travels in an intelligent fashion through the air. For that we have developed rules and regulations, also procedures and systems. The Air Force is the natural operator of every flying object and we do this in the most effective way, consequently the opportunities reside in being the manager and facilitator of all remotely piloted activity.

We don´t forget that the future will bring unmanned combat systems, and from a pure conceptual point of view there is the biggest challenge but also the biggest opportunity for an Air Force.

SMi: What do you believe to be the biggest factor in determining true international cooperative use of RPAS?

Both political interest and industrial returns. To have a sound RPAS system we need the industry and today not many programs are developed by a single nation, consequently we can anticipate some degree of communality in future RPAS across Europe, thus interoperability is enhanced. But we shouldn´t forget that RPAS are normally ISR platforms and that usually comes with some degree of confidentiality. Then, only the political impetus (possibly triggered by defence or security coalition operations) is capable of overcoming that tendency to keep the information within national security boundaries.

SMi: In your opinion, what does the future of the UAS industry look like for the Spanish Air Force?

The Spanish Air Force and the Spanish MoD are really well aware of the majority of industrial developments in RPAS and we are convinced that only finding the right balance of military/industrial cooperation will succeed. For smaller and less complicated systems that might be enough, but for heavier, bigger and more complicated platforms only military/industrial international collaboration is realistic. And that is especially true when we speak about UCAVs. We have a decently sound aeronautical industry with us and we are trying to steer them into collaboration programs, i.e. EUROMALE and NEURON based UCAVs (as the Franco-British initiative).

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Unmanned Aerial Systems

19 – 20 November 2015

Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, London

www.uasconference.com