Spain and strengthen their ties again. Both countries have sealed a historic agreement in the defense sector for the acquisition of 30 Hürjet training aircraft, whichue in Spain they will be renamed Saeta II, in homage to the first Spanish jet, the Hispano Aviación HA-200 Saeta.
The contract, signed between the Spanish Government and Turkish Aerospace, is valued at 2.6 billion euros and marks the beginning of a new stage in the training of military pilots.
The program It is not limited to the purchase of aircraftaccording to Turkish Aerospace President and CEO Mehmet Demiroğlu. “We are going to provide the platform. -company chosen to coordinate the project in Spain- is going to provide the training equipment and systems. And there will be a series of companies [españolas]a total of 14, which will provide certain subcomponents,” he noted.
Although the base of the Saeta II is Turkish technology, its development will have strong Spanish involvement. Airbus will be in charge of coordinating the program in Spain, including training system and maintenance, which will allow the aircraft to be adapted to the specific needs of the Armed Forces. In addition, around 14 Spanish companies will participate in the manufacturing of different components.
As he explained, this collaboration also reflects the change in the global context of defense, especially with recent conflicts, such as the war in Iran. This has led countries to seek more efficient systems, faster to produce and more economical.
“Within NATO there are a series of countries that develop technologies long before others. Not to compete with them, but also to give strength to NATO because if each country is stronger than in the past, then the alliance will be stronger,” he concluded.
The first delivery is scheduled for the second half of 2028 and the objective is to complete the program in 2031. This schedule seeks to accelerate the replacement of the veteran F-5, which has been one of the main training aircraft of the Air Force for decades.
