The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday authorized two Royal Decrees for the direct granting of a 1,429 million euro loan to Airbus Defence and Space, S.A.U., for the Euromale RPAS drone program, and another 707 million euro loan to Airbus Helicopters España, S.A.U., for the Tiger MKIII helicopter program.
The objective of these two loans, totaling €2,137 million, is to finance Spanish participation in these programs between 2022 and 2028.
Spain is participating in the program to develop the European Euromale RPAS high autonomy and medium altitude remotely piloted aerial system to meet the needs of the Armed Forces. It is an international program between Germany, France, Italy and Spain to provide capabilities in this type of unmanned systems with the possibility of carrying weapons. After the execution of the first phase, the second development phase of the program is being undertaken with a view to the entry into service of the system in 2028, with a participation of 32% for Germany, 24% for Italy and 22% for France and Spain respectively.
The multi-year loan will be signed with Airbus Defence and Space and is intended to partially cover the costs and investments required for the design, development, production and support for the entry into service and logistical support for a medium-altitude, high autonomy remotely piloted aerial system.
The economic impact is positive, according to the Government. Specifically, the workload is assured at the Getafe, Seville and Cadiz factories. The employment impact of the EUROMALE RPAS program is estimated at an average of 3,000 jobs per year for the next 15 years. These figures correspond to direct, indirect and induced employment in Spain.
On the other hand, Tigre MK III is a bilateral program between Spain and France to modernize their respective Tiger helicopter fleets in order to extend their service life from 20 to 40 years and increase their capabilities. The modernization consists of upgrading and refurbishing the systems and subsystems, avionics architecture, operating equipment and weapons capabilities of the current Tiger helicopter fleet.
The multi-year loan will be signed with Airbus Helicopters España, which is the entity through which the Spanish participation in the program will be channeled. The loan will be used to partially cover the costs and investments necessary to carry out the work required to upgrade to a new common standard the fleets of 42 helicopters from France and 18 helicopters from Spain over the period 2022-2028. For Airbus Helicopters Spain, this project secures its workload at the Getafe and Albacete factories, significantly increasing its workforce.
