Spanish AF Marks 25,000 Eurofighter Hours

photo Geoffrey Lee

March 5, 2014 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Spanish Ministry of Defence; issued March 4, 2014)

(Issued in Spanish; unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com)

Twenty-Five Thousand Hours of Eurofighter in Air Force

The Air Force’s fleet of Eurofighter EF-2000 aircraft has completed its first 25,000 flight hours during the month of February, to which three units equipped with this weapon system have contributed: 11 Wing at Air Base Morón de la Frontera in Seville, 14 Wing at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete and the Armaments Logistics and Experimentation Center (CLAEX) at Torrejón de Ardoz air base in Madrid.

The Eurofighter, which in the Air Force carries the designation C.16, entered service in our Armed Forces in October 2003. Since then, it has been assigned to the 11th Wing, operating mainly from Morón Air Base, in order to fulfill its primary mission of interception and air defense.

Since May 2012, it also has been operated by 142 Squadron of 14 Wing, as has the CLAEX, where it is operated for the development of operating software and weapons integration.

The C.16 fleet operated by Wing 11 and Wing 14 reached full operational capacity in January 2008 and, since then, is part of a select group of Air Force aircraft that monitor and protect our national sovereign airspace 24 hours day, seven days a week.

The primary mission of the Eurofighter units is to provide the Air Force with the required defensive and offensive air capability, to meet both national missions, as well as commitments arising from the Spanish participation in international organizations. It is equipped with latest-generation precision weapons that allow the Eurofighter to launch bombs and guided weapons with centimetric accuracy. Combined with the vast potential of its radar and air-to-air armament against aerial threats, the possibilities of this weapon system are multiplied.

The Air Force, which has 41 Eurofighter, reached this milestone with the assurance that the performance of these first 25,000 hours of flight confirms the operational and industrial success of the Eurofighter program, which has enabled the European aerospace industry and its Armed Forces to design, build and operate one of the best fighter planes that have plied the skies.