The main contract of the year in military matters and the last of the legislature is close to being called. It is about the acquisition of new combat fighters to replace the old F-18 available in the Iberian Peninsula. The planned budget will be more than 2,000 million euros. The candidate, prepared, is Airbus. The company warms up for the challenge. “We are confident that Spain will place that additional order in the coming months,” said Jesús de Miguel, the multinational’s head of finance and military aircraft contracts, on Monday. The decision is now in the hands of the Ministry of Defense, which in recent days has offered some clue.
Airbus found itself in recent months with a major rival in this race: the American arms giant Lookhead Martin and its F-35. But the chips have been moving in recent months. Germany, France and Spain have managed to seal the FCAS project, the combat aircraft of the future that will begin operations in 2040. This opens the door to incorporating a transition aircraft and at this moment all eyes are on the government, on Airbus and in the military sector they are heading towards the company chaired by Guillaume Faury, who a few days ago met with Pedro Sánchez in La Moncloa.
The department headed by Margarita Robles is therefore inclined towards Airbus and its Eurofighters. Earlier this month, the Secretary of State for Defense, Amparo Valcarce, declared at an inter-ministerial meeting in Milan that “the Eurofighter is essential for Spain, it represents the backbone of the defense of our airspace and it is the engine of our industry.” aerospace defense. “We believe that it is a necessary initiative to redefine a common path for the program”, added the number two of the ministry.
“Spain has contracted 20 new aircraft [to replace the F-18 of the Canary Islands] and is studying the acquisition of more Eurofighters, a decision that will depend on the smooth running of the program,” Valcarce said. These twenty fighters are part of the Halcón program, in which the State is going to spend 1,905 million euros. A project, according to Airbus, that is essential for the strategic autonomy of Spain and for the national military industry. The company presented this Monday a report prepared by PwC in which it reviews the economic return that the fighter jet project represents for the country.
The consultancy analyzes the impact of the Eurofighter program in Spain through two programs, the aforementioned Halcón and the Quadriga, which consists of manufacturing 38 aircraft for the German Armed Forces for 3,740 million. Between the two, the report indicates that 26,000 jobs will be secured until 2060 and that the company will contribute close to 1,700 million euros to the national GDP. 26,000 jobs, equivalent to 2.7% of direct positions in the Spanish aerospace sector. The main autonomous communities benefiting from this activity are the Community of Madrid, the Basque Country, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia.
PwC also estimates that the Eurofighter program generates a total tax collection of 430 million euros, of which 151 million will be a direct contribution. In addition, for every euro collected directly, 2.8 euros of total tax revenue will be generated in the national economy.
Of the construction of a Eurofighter, 14% of the fighter is produced in Spain. Specifically, the Airbus plants manufacture the right wing, the surfaces and the leading edge. In the engine part, ITP Aero is in charge of 16% of it, the nozzle, the rear casing, the turbine outlet and the bypass duct, as well as the main fuel control unit. The rest of the devices are produced between Germany, France and Italy.
Airbus assures that the contract for the 25 new aircraft is in the trial phase with the Ministry of Defence. At the moment there is no formal offer on the table and the final price will depend on the final configuration demanded by the client, the Air Force. The company’s objective is to achieve a kind of Falcon 2 program that would guarantee workload for a company considered strategic by the Government.
