On March 10, 2023, the Swiss company Pilatus Aircraft announced that it had signed a contract with the Directorate General of Armaments and Logistics (Dirección General de Armamento y Material - DGAM) of the Spanish Ministry of Defense for the supply of 16 more Pilatus PC-21 turboprop training aircraft for the Spanish Air Force. Spain has previously acquired 24 RS-21 aircraft, and the new contract will make the Spanish Air Force the largest operator of this type in Europe.
Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft of the Spanish Air Force over Murcia (c) Pilatus AircraftAccording to Spanish sources, the cost of the new contract for 16 RS-21 aircraft is $ 240 million.
The delivery will also include one integrated ground simulator, two simpler cabin tactical simulators, and other training equipment.
Earlier in November 2019, DGAM concluded and in January 2020 finalized a contract with Pilatus Aircraft in the amount of 204.75 million euros for the purchase of the first 24 RS-21 aircraft for the Spanish Air Force, which were delivered from late 2020 to mid-2022. In the Spanish Air Force, the RS-21 aircraft received the designation E.27. All 24 aircraft were delivered to the Spanish Air Force Academy (Academia General del Aire - AGA) in San Javier, where in the 79th wing, CASA C-101EV Aviojet Spanish-made jet combat training aircraft of the 1980s were replaced as machines of the main stage of flight training. The training of pilots on RS-21 aircraft in AGA has been started since mid-2022.
The 16 additional RS-21 aircraft currently being purchased are to replace Chilean-made piston-engined T-35C Pillan aircraft used as aircraft of the initial stage of flight training in the 79th wing of the Spanish Air Force Academy in San Javier. Nominally, the AGA now has 36 T-35S aircraft, but not all of them are in flight condition. Thus, the RS-21 in the Spanish Air Force will be a single aircraft of the initial and main stages of training. It is reported that the 79th AGA Wing will receive 14 of the additional RS-21s being acquired, and two more aircraft will be delivered to the Spanish Air Force Flight Test Center (Centro Logístico de Armamento y Experimentación - CLAEX) in Torrejon.
Currently, the RS-21 aircraft is operated in 10 countries, 242 experimental and production aircraft have been built.
