Spain will purchase 20 fighters to renew the Canary Islands’ obsolete F-18s.

The Government of Spain on July 9, 2020, announced the launch of negotiations with Airbus on buying 20 additional Eurofighter fighter aircraft for the Spanish Air Force. Both parties intend for the contract to be signed in 2021 and for the new aircraft to join Wing 46 of the Air Force between 2025 and 2030.

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An RAF Typhoon F2 flying through the Mach Loop. (Picture source: Chris Lofting/Wikipedia)

Spain is set to receive new Eurofighter combat aircraft to augment its existing fleet and to begin the process of replacing its Boeing EF-18 Hornet fleet.

These 20 Eurofighter fighters of the Tranche 3+ / Tranche 4 series will feature an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and other modifications. For Spain, the AESA would be ‘Radar 1’, development of which is being led by Hensoldt and Indra.

Earlier this year, the Spanish Ministry of Defense rejected plans to purchase American Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters for the Air Force, although the possibility of buying a batch of F-35B aircraft for the Spanish Navy is not ruled out.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard–delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo that conducts the majority of the project through a joint holding company, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH. NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency manages the project and is the prime customer.