A Glock 19 gen 2 issued as part of the survival kit of F/A-18 pilots of the Spanish Air Force during Kosovo conflict and the Bosnian War.
These handguns formed part of the survival kit during one of the busiest operational periods for Spanish Air Force F/A-18 pilots, who took part in NATO's Operations Deny Flight and Deliberate Force over Bosnia, as well as Operation Allied Force during the Kosovo campaign.
Compared to the standard model, the pistols featured several modifications better suited to their mission, including an extended slide release for easier manipulation while wearing Nomex flight gloves and some beefy steel sights with tritium inserts.
Before earning their wings, the Glocks underwent some rather unconventional testing. CLAEX (Centro Logístico de Armamento y Experimentación) subjected them to acceleration and impact trials, exposing them to more than 9 g of sustained acceleration and 20 g of shock loads.
Once CLAEX made sure that the handguns were G force safe, they were tested in barometric chambers simulating altitudes above 40,000 feet, subjected to thermal shock cycles ranging from 22 °C to −50 °C, and exposed to saltwater and extreme heat intended to replicate the conditions experienced during an ejection-seat deployment.
The handgun was so well liked that the GRUSEG, the VIP protection unit, as well as some expeditionary units JTACs and CCTs made sure to keep some of these handguns in inventory. The branch has been fighting to get off the shadows of the procurement chain of their big army brother until recently to get the Austrian wonder as their main service handgun, 30 years later, the Spanish air force has once again adopted Glock as their sidearm, this time in much larger numbers and for all their combat units.
