Airbus Defence in Spain

Airbus Defence and Space employs around 9,000 people in Spain across five locations, serving as the global headquarters for the Air Power business line. Key national defence assembly capabilities include:

• Seville (San Pablo): Final Assembly Lines (FAL) for the A400M airlifter and the C295 transport aircraft.
• Getafe (Madrid): Final Assembly Line and testing for all Eurofighter delivered to the  Spanish Air and Space Force, conversion of A330 jetliners into A330 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) tanker aircraft and A400M maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).

Airbus manufactures core structural components and payloads for civil and military space missions such as the SpainSat-NG satellite programme, which delivers secure geostationary communications for armed forces. Airbus' Spanish facilities in Getafe and Tres Cantos — via Airbus Crisa — also deliver critical components for European Earth observation satellites and deep space exploration platforms, as well as advanced avionics and power units. Getafe also hosts a cutting-edge 4.0 production facility dedicated to manufacturing large, single-piece carbon fibre structures for the Ariane 6 heavy-lift launcher. 

Airbus Helicopters' activities in Spain, centred in Albacete, range from design and manufacturing to maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), as well as sales. The site is the global centre of excellence for helicopter rear fuselages across the entire Airbus Helicopters range, and it produces structural sections for the NH90. It is also responsible for the final assembly and maintenance of the Spanish Army’s NH90 and Tiger helicopters. Albacete is home to a major logistics hub that supports assembly factories across Europe. Engineering support is also provided in Getafe for defence and government customers, including the Guardia Civil and National Police.

By maintaining Final Assembly Lines (FAL), engineering facilities and Research and Development (R&D) centres across Getafe, Seville, Cádiz and Barcelona, Airbus secures Spain’s sovereign defence capabilities. This industrial footprint ensures that Spain retains complete ownership of intellectual property, fleet maintenance and future system integration without relying on external non-European suppliers. Through major collaborative defence initiatives such as Eurofighter and Eurodrone, Airbus strengthens Spain's leadership role within European defence while guaranteeing operational independence for the Spanish Armed Forces.

Airbus maintains an enduring operational partnership with the Spanish Air and Space Force (Ejército del Aire y del Espacio), serving as its strategic aerospace and defence partner for over a century. Airbus provides and supports a comprehensive ecosystem of multi-mission platforms and sovereign services for Spain, including:

• The Eurofighter Typhoon fighter fleet and the next-generation SAETA II pilot training system.
• The A400M airlifter and the C295 tactical transport aircraft.
• The A330 MRTT tanker aircraft and C295 MPA maritime patrol variants.
• The NH90, H135 and Super Puma helicopters, alongside the SIRTAP uncrewed aerial system (UAS).

Beyond aircraft manufacturing, Airbus delivers complete in-service support, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities, and high-fidelity flight simulator instruction via its International Training Centre in Seville.

The Halcón programme is a strategic modernisation initiative by the Spanish Ministry of Defence to replace its aging fleet of EF-18 Hornets with state-of-the-art Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft. Divided into Halcón I and Halcón II, the contracts cover a total of 45 newly built Eurofighters (Tranche 4 and Tranche 4+ standards) equipped with advanced electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems. Assembled at the Airbus facility in Getafe, these jets reinforce the air defence capabilities of the Spanish Air and Space Force, including sovereign airspace protection over the Canary Islands.
 

U850 SIRTAP is a High-Performance Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) developed by Airbus to fulfill the operational requirements of the Spanish MInistry of Defence. Designed to operate under extreme environmental conditions, U850 SIRTAP features a 20-hour flight endurance, an operational altitude of up to 21,000 feet, and a 150 kg payload capacity. The system provides critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), target identification, and maritime/land border monitoring, serving as a versatile remote platform for tactical missions.

Airbus operates the International Training Centre (ITC) at its San Pablo site in Seville, which is the largest private military aircraft training facility in Europe. Celebrating over 15 years of operational excellence, the ITC trains approximately 2,500 military personnel annually from 90 operators worldwide. The centre features high-fidelity Full Flight Simulators (FFS) and specialised training devices for platforms including the A400M, A330 MRTT, C295 and CN235. Instruction spans full operational profiles: from low-level tactical flights and night-vision operations to aerial refuelling and cargo hold management.
 

SAETA II is Spain’s next-generation sovereign combat training system designed to prepare future fighter pilots for digital battlefields and advanced platforms like the Eurofighter and Europe’s future sixth-generation fighter. Led by Airbus as the prime systems integrator, the programme replaces the Spanish Air and Space Force’s legacy F-5 fleet. SAETA II integrates a high-performance supersonic jet trainer with a Ground Based Training System featuring advanced flight simulators, mission debriefing architectures and full in-service life-cycle support within Spain.