Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1333129
remain active, it seems that no replacement would be selected for the Saabs. This means that the Austrian air defense system would still rely on the 15 „unwanted" Typhoons. Spain Spain is the fourth member of the European Eurofighter user group. The country also participated in the related development pro- gram. Eurofighters form the backbone of the Spanish tactical aviation. The first jet was han- ded off in November 2003. All of the Spanish Eurofighters have been manufactured at the Airbus plant in Getafe. The first Ejército del Aire's Eurofighter squ- adron achieved IOC status in July 2008. The last airframe of the type, so far, has been han- ded off on January 9th, 2020. The Spanish Air Force ordered 73 Eurofighters in total, belonging to three Tranches - 19 examples of Tranche 1 jets, 34 Tranche 2 jets, and 20 Tranche 3A jets (instead of 34 Tranche 3 air- craft). 3 jets have been lost which means that EdA currently operates 70 Typhoons, locally known as the C.16. The aircraft is operated by five tactical squadrons. The jets are used within two wings: Ala 11 based in Morón with two operational Typhoon squadrons, and one training squadron (Escuadrón 111, Escuadrón 112, Escuadrón 113 is the training unit opera- ting the Tranche 1 jets), Albacete-based Ala 14 currently has two operational Typhoon squ- adrons (Escuadrón 141, Escuadrón 142). The Spanish Eurofighters are complemented by the F/A-18 Hornets that have been opera- ted by Spain since 1986. The Spanish Hornets bear the C.15/CE/15 designation. Ejercito del Aire currently operates 72 Hornets subordina- ted to three tactical aviation wings: Ala 12 based in Torrejón, with two Hornet squadrons (Escuadrón 121, Escuadrón 122); Ala 15 based in Saragossa, with a single Hornet squadron (Escuadrón 151); Ala 42 based in Gando, with a single Hornet squadron (Escuadrón 462). The Spanish Hornets, despite going through an MLU upgrade, are gradually approaching the end of their service life. The situation is critical for 20 jets of the 462nd Squadron of the 46th Wing stationed at the Gando air base in the Canary Islands. The squadron has re- ceived the second-hand F/A-18A jets transfer- red from the US Navy. The Hornets operated in the Canary Islands would be the first ones to be decommissioned. The scheduled date is between 2023 and 2024. This means that no air policing assets would be stationed in the archipelago. The Spanish Air Force Command was suggesting repeatedly that procurement of more Eurofighters would be a preferable solution to that problem. According to the Spanish media, the government in Madrid ultimately agreed on the aforesaid recom- mendation. The Spanish Halcon program has been created to replace the 462nd Squadron's Hornets with another Squadron formed by 20 Eurofighters. The cost is estimated to be at the level of EUR 2 bn. The agreement concer- ning the aforesaid purchase was expected to be signed in March this year. Nonetheless, the process is facing serious delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Airbus representati- ves did suggest that the agreement is expec- ted to be signed by the end of 2020. All of that stems from the fact that the government is driven to deliver the new aircraft for the Air Force as early as 2025. The above means that jets deployed from the continent would need to take over the air policing duty in the Canary Islands at least for some time. Further delays impacting the contract would require Spain to maintain this temporary solution. And this would have a detrimental impact on the ca- pabilities of the „continental" component of the Spanish Air Force. The Eurofighter aircraft procured within the framework of the Halcon program would be delivered in the Tranche 3 specification. They would be fitted with the E-SCAN ECRS Mk. 1 AESA radar. The jets wo- uld also be integrated with air-to-surface (anti- -ship) weapons so that they are fully ready to take over the Gando Hornets' duties. A similar plan applies to the remainder of the Spanish Hornets. They are to be decom- missioned entirely in the second half of the decade. The Spanish government is willing to pursue the „20+20+20" plan, aimed at the acquisition of 60 new aircraft in three lots, in total. After the 20 Eurofighter jets for the 46th Wing, the next procurement would be aimed at AVIATION