Spain signs deal with Airbus for SiRTAP MALE UAS
SIRTAP MALE UAV has been scheduled for first flight in 2025. (Image: Airbus)
Spain’s MoD has signed a deal with Airbus for a new multirole UAS which will be ITAR-free and primarily designed for ISTAR operations. It has been planned for service with Spain, Colombia and Serbia.
Spain’s MoD has inked a deal with Airbus for the development and purchase of Sistema RPAS Táctico de Altas Prestaciones (SiRTAP) multirole medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAS.
The contract has included a total of nine systems, each consisting of three UAVs. One ground control station and two simulators will be supplied to train the Spanish Armed Forces.
Jean-Brice Dumont, head of military air systems at Airbus Defence and Space, said the development of the system solely in Spain would support national sovereignty and help to integrate national capabilities.
‘[Additionally] the fact the system uses ITAR-free components means we also expect it to play a key role on the international market,’ Dumont noted.
Primarily designed for ISTAR operations, the modular UAV can be outfitted for other mission sets and will be certified to fly in segregated airspace.
The UAV will be able to carry a payload of more than 150kg and will have a range of more than 2,000km with an endurance of more than 20h.
First flight of the SiRTAP prototype will be expected to take place in 2025. Colombia, which has a role in the development and production programme, is a planned customer and in July 2023 Serbia announced it was planning to join the programme.
Shephard Defence Insight estimated, based on information about Spain's purchase of 27 units at an investment of US$565.18 million, that each unit would cost $20.9 million and have a flyaway unit cost of $16.7 million.
More from Air Warfare
-
![India readies private sector push as AMCA moves towards 2028 prototype]()
India readies private sector push as AMCA moves towards 2028 prototype
India’s stealth fighter ambitions gain fresh momentum as HAL opens the door to private sector involvement in AMCA Mk1A structural assembly, with strategic support growing for next-gen propulsion and sensor technologies.
-
![BAE Systems reveals new GCAP demonstrator design with plans to fly by 2027]()
BAE Systems reveals new GCAP demonstrator design with plans to fly by 2027
A key part in the trinational Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), this is the first crewed supersonic aircraft demonstrator to be built and developed in the UK in more than 40 years.
-
![Anduril’s Barracuda-100M completes latest successful test flights]()
Anduril’s Barracuda-100M completes latest successful test flights
The munitions variant of the Barrauda-100 autonomous air vehicle is being tested for the US Army’s High-Speed Manoeuvrable Missile (HSMM) testbed programme, with further flight tests expected in 2026.
-
![Norway cleared for possible $2.6 billion HH-60W helicopter FMS]()
Norway cleared for possible $2.6 billion HH-60W helicopter FMS
The possible sale for nine HH-60W by the US government could make Norway the first Foreign Military Sale customer for the rescue and combat helicopter and add to the country’s ongoing acquisition of Sikorsky-made helicopters.
