Spain approves Eurofighter buy, upgrades

[+GKABS]

Spanish government has approved the procurement of 20 new Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft under Project Halcon (Falcon), as well as a mid-life upgrade (MLU) for a portion of the country's existing fleet.

Announced as part of a wider raft of governmental approvals on 14 December, the move paves the way for a Project Halcon contract to be signed with Airbus for the Tranche 4 Eurofighters that will replace the Spanish Air Force's (Ejército del Aire Español: EdAE) Boeing EF-18 Hornets based on the Canary Islands. It also sets in motion a planned MLU for the service's existing Eurofighter Tranche 3 airframes.

“Great news from Madrid! We are grateful for the strong endorsement by Spain of the Eurofighter programme, and are looking forward to signing the Halcon contract soon, taking Spain's Air Force to the next technological level,” the CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, Michael Schoellhorn, said at the announcement.

As previously described to Janes, the Project Halcon Tranche 4 Eurofighters (company officials have previously called them Tranche 3+) would be of the latest Tranche 3 standard, plus an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and other modifications. For Spain, the AESA would be the European Common Radar System Mark 1, also known as ‘Radar 1', development of which is being led by Hensoldt and Indra. Delivery of these 20 new Eurofighters is scheduled to take place from 2025 to 2030.

 

 

[+daddyairplanes]

man i feel old reading about Eurofighter MLU, when i remember the demo birds for the EFA!

[macelena]

2 hours ago, daddyairplanes said:

man i feel old reading about Eurofighter MLU, when i remember the demo birds for the EFA!

Indeed. I think much of it is about giving them all AESA radar, it was about time. I must admit i had no clue myself. People were debating wether it would be F-35s for both the Navy and Air Force, or Typhoons to replace all Hornets. I'm somewhat hopeful they will still replace Hornets in the mainland (Torrejon and Zaragoza) with F-35s, 6th Gen would be Ok to start replacing Eurofighters.

The priority was retiring the Hornets from the Canary Islands, if Morocco turned violent, their newest F-16s would be a serious trouble. The more we keep the balance in our favour, the fewer issues they are willing to cause, and we've been lagging a little bit lately.

Edited December 16, 2021 by macelena

[shotdown]

On 16/12/2021 at 11:19 PM, macelena said:

People were debating wether it would be F-35s for both the Navy and Air Force, or Typhoons to replace all Hornets.

I think they are still doing it. I've read some really ludicrous ideas (like buying 25 F-35 for the Navy and 25 for the Air Force), but knowing the neverending budget problems for spanish armed forces, I guess whatever choice will be far from ideal.

[macelena]

43 minutes ago, shotdown said:

I think they are still doing it. I've read some really ludicrous ideas (like buying 25 F-35 for the Navy and 25 for the Air Force), but knowing the neverending budget problems for spanish armed forces, I guess whatever choice will be far from ideal.

If we upgraded the Typhoons we had, and replaced the Hornets and Harriers with F-35A and Bs on a one to one basis, I would build a palace for every member of Parliament. But while it is what would make sense to me, I don't know how it could happen. 

[+daddyairplanes]

in defense spending, common sense is 20 places below the lowest consideration. whatever the brass and pols may say