Following the collapse of the FCAS fighter jet programme and a lack of available latest-generation alternatives, Spain is now forced to prolong the service life of its F-18 fleet.
This week, Madrid commissioned defence and technology giant Indra to develop new avionics test benches to support the extended lifespan of more than 60 fourth-generation aircraft.
The move is part of the defence ministry’s decision to gradually extend their service until 2040, by which time they will have been flying for more than five decades.
“These are nothing more than stopgap measures,” said Enrique Navarro Gil, an independent defence consultant specialising in the aerospace sector.
The end of the European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) – a joint effort between Spain’s Indra, France’s Dassault, and Germany’s Airbus – has crushed expectations of deploying a sixth-generation jet anytime soon.
Spain has ordered 45 fourth-generation Halcón I and II Eurofighters since 2022 that will be delivered progressively over the next 10 years, the consultant told Euractiv, but as there is no substitute for the FCAS yet, Spain faces a strategically complex panorama.
“The outlook for 2040 is that, once the F-18s have been retired, the air force will have only one fighter aircraft type with the arrival of the newer Eurofighters,” he noted.
Traditionally, the Spanish military has always operated simultaneously two fighter jet models with different characteristics, to allow for an operational backup.
Yet this postponed phase-out carries added economic costs.
In a February parliamentary response to a question from the far-right Vox party, the government noted that this process “entails adapting the maintenance system” to guarantee “both operational capability and safety with an appropriate level of maintenance resources.”
This, the document reads, “will result in longer maintenance times, with maintenance activities becoming more costly and complex.”
Yet latest-generation Eurofighters, those beyond the fourth generation, could take years to produce, Navarro noted. Eurofighter, a consortium comprising Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain, operates across multiple national supply chains and is involved in several major ongoing programmes.
There is concern within the army, the consultant added, that the service life of the F-18s is being extended despite there being no certainty that the Eurofighter aircraft will have been upgraded by 2040.
The F-35 backup
Another option would have been the US F-35 stealth jets. But Spain put the purchase “on hold” last year, according to an El País report, in an effort to prioritise the European defence industry.
That leaves the defence ministry, headed by Margarita Robles, without the only aircraft currently available with the capabilities needed to replace the Spanish Navy’s Harrier jets – the only ones capable of vertical take-off – which will be phased out by 2032, as confirmed by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Antonio Piñeiro.
Other European countries such as Italy and Germany have chosen the F-35 for their air forces, adding to speculation that strained relations between Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and US President Donald Trump were partly to blame for the decision.
Madrid’s decision could have “enormous implications for security,” Navarro said, leaving Spain with a significant strategic gap. “The Spanish armed forces could have had operational F-35s within two or three years.”
© 2026, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
