Spain explores manned SIGINT aircraft

Although not named in the contract announcement, Spain's Definition Study of the SIGINT Manned Aerial Platform effort could leverage Germany's PEGASUS programme. (Hensoldt)

Spain is exploring options for fielding a new manned signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft, potentially recapitalising a capability it lost when it retired the Boeing 707 (T.17 in national service) Sistema de Captación sobre Plataforma Aérea (SCAPA) and Dassault Falcon 20 (TM.11) previously used for the role.

The Spanish Ministry of Defence (MoD) awarded the UTE PEM SCAPA industrial partnership a EUR16 million (USD18.8 million) 18-month definition study contract for a manned SIGINT platform on 29 December, according to a notification posted on the government procurement website on the same day.

The temporary joint venture (UTE) of the special modernisation programme (PEM) as it relates to SCAPAcomprises Airbus Defence and Space and Indra Sistemas.

No further details were disclosed.

The Spanish Air and Space Force lost its manned airborne SIGINT capability when it withdrew the last of its T.17s and TM.11s in the 2010s. Used primarily as tanker-transports, the ageing T.11 airframes were modernised to conduct the SIGINT mission. While they were replaced in their primary mission by the Airbus A330-200 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft, they were retired without replacement in the manned SIGINT role. The TM.11s were converted to the role having previously been liaison transport aircraft. However, they were retired in the SIGINT role without replacement.

However, while the Spanish Air and Space Force fields no manned SIGINT airframe, its General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc MQ-9A Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be configured for the mission when needed.

For more information on Spanish airborne modernisation programmes, please see Spain approves multibillion-euro aircraft procurement plan .