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Airbus says Spain will receive an initial 21 Turkish Aerospace Industries’ (TAI) Hurjet advanced jet trainers while it works on the final avionics package that will eventually equip the planned 30-aircraft fleet.
The European OEM says the first 21 trainers will start being delivered in 2028. Airbus says it will use one of them as a prototype to work on the Spanish avionics and mission equipment.
During the program’s second phase, the 21 delivered aircraft will be upgraded with that kit, while the remaining nine will undergo the conversion before going to the customer, the company said April 28.
Deliveries of the Spanish-standard aircraft will then unfold between 2031 and 2035, Airbus says.
Spain, in December, signed the €2.6 billion ($3 billion) contract to the Airbus-TAI joint venture formed to pursue the Spanish Air Force’s Integrated Advanced Training System requirement. The program aims to replace the Northrop SF-5 Freedom Fighters.
Airbus will also adapt the Fighter and Strike School Training Center at the Talavera la Real AB in Extremadura, Spain. The new ground-based training system is due to be operational in the 2029-30 academic year, Airbus said, as it presented the industrial program for the so-called Saeta II project, noting it would have 60% Spanish industrial participation.
“We ensure technology transfer in key areas, we obtain a deep-reaching industrial return and, above all, we provide the program with the strategic sovereignty and independence necessary to manage the sustainment and any future evolution of the system," says Marta Nogueira, the head of Airbus’ defense business in Spain.
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