Brigadier General Francisco Coll Herrero

SP Head of Rotary Wing Aerial Systems Directorate-General of Arms and Materiel (DGAM)

Brigadier General Francisco Coll is currently the Head of Rotary Wing Aerial Systems of the Spanish National Armaments Directorate. Under the direction of the Deputy NAD for Programmes, he is responsible for coordinating and controlling the management of the Army, Navy and Air Force helicopter procurement programmes. General Coll was born in Palma de Mallorca in 1961. He graduated as an aeronautical engineer from the Higher Technical School of Aeronautical Engineers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid in 1986, and then, he joined the Air Force Engineers Corps. Once he finished his military training at the General Air Academy, he was assigned to Maestranza Aérea of Madrid, an Air Logistics Centre whose main function is light and medium transport airplanes and helicopters sustainment (engineering support and depot maintenance level). During the time he held the ranks of Captain and Major, he was successively responsible for aircraft turbines engineering support, MRO quality assurance and non-destructive testing (NDT), and finally, MRO workshops production control. At that time, he was appointed to renew the airworthiness certificates of BO105 and BK117 helicopters of the Civil Guard, performing more than 150 flight hours in test flights. After completing the Armed Forces General Staff course and being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 2003, he was assigned to the EF2000 Eurofighter Programme Office, as deputy manager of the logistics area. From 2006 to June 2017, he was assigned to the Air Force Logistics Support Command, carrying out engineering and maintenance management tasks for transport aircraft, trainers, firefighting aircraft, maritime patrol MPA, VIP transport aircraft and helicopters. Promoted to Colonel in 2013, he continued serving, as section leader, in the Engineering Directorate of the Air Force Logistics Support Command. In June 2017, he was appointed as Commander of Maestranza Aérea of Madrid. In June 2018, he was promoted to Brigadier General and appointed as Deputy Engineering Director for Transport Aircraft, Trainers and Helicopters of the Air Force Logistics Support Command, until February 23, 2022, when he was appointed to his current position, as Head of Rotary Wing Aerial Systems of NAD, Ministry of Defence.