The Spanish air force’s future advanced jet trainer will operate with the service name SAETA II.
Spain has given its future fleet of adapted Turkish Aerospace (TAI) Hurjet trainers the service name SAETA II, with deliveries due to commence during 2028.
Under an Integrated Combat Training System deal signed last December with prime contractor Airbus Defence & Space, the Spanish air force will replace its aged Northrop F-5Ms with 30 of the Turkish-built advanced jet trainers.
TAI will deliver the programme’s first 21 jets from 2028, including one example to be transferred to Airbus’s defence unit “as a prototype for the integration of next-generation avionics and mission equipment”, the prime contractor says.
During a second-phase activity, that initial batch of aircraft, along with the remaining nine trainers, “will undergo conversion to Spanish standards”.
“Deliveries of the completed Spanish-variant SAETA II, along with its ground-based training system [GBTS], will take place between 2031 and 2035,” Airbus Defence & Space says. To be installed at Talavera la Real air base, the GBTS will include “state-of-the-art simulators developed in collaboration with Indra”, it notes.
An initial ground-based training capability will be stood up to support operations at the air force’s Fighter and Strike School training centre from the 2029-2030 academic year, says Airbus, which outlined the programme’s industrial plan on 28 April.
Spanish secretary of state for defence Amparo Valcarce describes the SAETA II buy as “a project that mobilises our industry, generates knowledge, employment, and opportunities throughout the entire value chain”.
Marta Nogueira, head of business Spain for Airbus Defence & Space, says the arrangement with TAI spans technology transfer and “a deep-reaching industrial return”, along with “the strategic sovereignty and independence necessary to manage the sustainment and any future evolution of the system”.
Local workshare will include “the manufacturing of primary parts, electrical wiring, and the design and construction of the [Spanish] conversion centre”.
Other Spanish companies selected to support the SAETA II activity include GMV – which will supply INS/GPS navigation equipment and mission computers, Orbital (mission recorders), and Sener (datalinks). Indra also will provide the platform’s identification friend or foe technology.
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