Spain has kicked off the procurement of another 25 Eurofighter combat aircraft under its Halcon II programme.
The latest batch of Eurofighters are in addition to the 20 examples Spain ordered last year under its preceding Halcon effort, deliveries of which are expected to begin in 2026.
Madrid has allocated a total of €4.5 billion ($4.8 billion) for the acquisition, which also includes simulators, maintenance and logistics support, according to budget proposals approved by the country’s council of ministers on 12 September.
Spending will take place over the 2023-2035 period. Spain valued the previous Halcon deal at €2 billion.
It will use the incoming jets to replace its Boeing F/A-18A Hornets which will be retired in around 2030. Spain already operates 68 Eurofighters, Cirium data records.
Airbus Defence & Space, which manages Spanish interests in the Eurofighter consortium, expects to receive a contract for the acquisition in the second half of 2024.
Meanwhile, Madrid has adjusted the schedule for the conversion of A330 passenger aircraft into the Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) standard.
Through the change, approved by the council of ministers, the last of three aircraft (MSN1694) will now not enter the modification process until March 2025, rather than July 2024 as previously planned. This will delay its completion by around a year to November 2026.
The move has been made due to the “need to have at least one operational A330 aircraft in transport configuration” over a given period.
Under a 2021 contract with Airbus, Madrid received MSN1694 in December of that year in a transport configuration, with two fully converted examples to follow in 2023 and 2025.
