Robles oversees the preparation of six 'Leopard' tanks for Ukraine

Minister Robles visited the weapons factory of the GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas company in the Seville municipality of Alcalá de Guadaíra, where she verified the commissioning of six 'Leopard' 2A4 vehicles, which are expected to be sent to Ukraine at the end of next week after the last firing tests at the training range.

Robles underlined the forthcoming arrival at this factory, which is a European benchmark in armoured vehicles and artillery systems, of another four Leopard' 2A4 battle tanks as part of the "commitment Spain has made, along with other allied countries, to help Ukraine".

The Minister for Defence gave special thanks to the company GDELS-SBS, and also to "all the citizens of Alcalá de Guadaíra, who have taken on this process as their own, for the fine-tuning that has been done in record time", recalling that the Spanish 'Leopard' 2Es used by the Spanish Army were manufactured in these facilities.

On a tour of the factory's workshops, Robles was able to talk to both workers and engineers and also to some of the local businessmen and suppliers who help to increase the company's efficiency when executing projects, and she thanked them all for their efforts. She also exchanged a few words with the military trainers of her Ukrainian counterparts, who are preparing to crew the 'Leopard' 2A4 and who explained to her the advantage of being able to fight "with the mentality of a tracker, because there is a lot to gain", given that the Soviet vehicles with which they were familiar are very different from those of the West.

Robles also highlighted the high morale of the Ukrainians training in Spain, pointing to their courage as "an example to everyone".

Artillery systems

The head of the department also visited the Zone A workshops dedicated to artillery systems, where the head of MALE and the director of operations at Santa Bárbara, the "the mother of the design of the 155 SIAC Obus artillery piece", explained in detail how it works and gave a demonstration.

The Santa Bárbara factory in Seville, which has 249 employees, is also involved in different programmes related to wheeled and tracked vehicles, including the 8x8 VCR 'Dragon' and the ASCOD/'Pizarro', VCAP 'Castor' sapper combat vehicles and 'Ajax' vehicles for the UK, among others.

The company is a driving force in the defence industry in Andalusia, where it has an increasing number of supplier companies, now totalling 158 compared to the 124 in 2019, 25% of which are from Alcalá de Guadaíra. The mayoress of the municipality, Ana Isabel Jiménez, highlighted the importance of these Ministry of Defence projects for local citizens and expressed her wish that "we continue to be delighted for many years to come with all the new projects that the ministry has for us".

The minister was also accompanied on the visit by the Secretary of State for Defence, Amparo Valcarce, and the Government Delegate in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández, among others.

Santa Bárbara Sistemas (GDELS-SBS) was established in 1960 and currently employs around 1,000 highly qualified and defence-specific employees at its three Spanish sites (Trubia, Alcalá de Guadaíra and Madrid), which provide services to the Ministry of Defence and allied nations.

After the visit to the Santa Bárbara Sistemas factory, Robles moved on to the Alcalá de Guadaíra Town Hall where she signed the book of honour, in which she recalled the town's union with the Ministry of Defence and, above all, "its commitment to a better Andalusia and a better Spain".

Last, the minister went on foot to the underground mill 'La Mina', installed in a natural grotto in the 15th century and one of the few underwater mills of Andalusian heritage, which the town council is rehabilitating to open it to the public with the aim of highlighting the industrial and bakery heritage of the municipality.

Non official translation