Spain’s Advanced Radar System Monitors Strait of Gibraltar and North Africa

The EVA 11 air surveillance squadron has a Lanza 3D radar with a range of about 470 kilometers, "designed and manufactured by the Spanish company Indra", which allows it to control "the Strait of Gibraltar and North Africa", according to the article describing the mission, daily life and conditions in which the Spanish Air Force soldiers assigned to this squadron, located in the province of Cadiz, work.

It is a "modern, state-of-the-art, transportable radar with great capabilities, and can operate in primary or secondary mode," the article specifies, without mentioning Morocco at all, but rather talking about the control of the airspace of "the Strait of Gibraltar and North Africa" by this radar.

The area extends from the Moroccan border with Algeria, to the east, a little southwest of Casablanca, and includes Moroccan cities like Rabat, Fez, Tangier, as well as the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla claimed by the kingdom. It also covers cities like Meknes, Kenitra, Sidi Slimane, Salé... where the main Moroccan air bases are located.

In addition to the two presidios, Morocco has constantly claimed the Spanish islands and rocks in North Africa and even the Canary Islands. Spain is trying to react to these Moroccan threats. In August 2020, a few weeks after a alleged intrusion into its airspace by two Moroccan Air Force F-5 fighters, it deployed a Eurofighter fighter over the Alboran Sea.