TUSAŞ and Airbus team up on jet trainer pitch for Spanish Air Force

ISTANBUL — Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus and a group of 15 Spanish companies – “Team Spain” – to explore cooperation on Spain’s future jet trainer program.

The agreement, signed during the Feindef defense exhibition in Madrid, focuses on developing a new Integrated Training System (ITS-C) that will eventually replace the Spanish Air Force’s 19 F-5M training aircraft which have been in service for 53 years.

The partnership aims to combine Airbus’s experience in aircraft design, production and training with TUSAŞ’s Hürjet. The Hürjet is a twin-seat, supersonic jet trainer designed to prepare pilots for advanced fighter aircraft and could become a key element in Spain’s future training system.

The agreement builds on a previous pact between TUSAŞ and Airbus and now includes Spanish industrial players. It also seeks to deepen defense ties between Turkey and Spain while contributing to the modernization of Spain’s military pilot training infrastructure.

Hürjet, currently in development by TUSAŞ, is designed to reach speeds of up to Mach 1.4. It includes advanced onboard and ground-based training systems and is scheduled to enter service with the Turkish Air Force in 2026.

Lt. Gen. Miguel Ivorra Ruiz, who oversees defense-industry planning at the Spanish Ministry of Defense, emphasized the broader significance of the agreement. He described it as “a step towards a solid, strategic and innovative industrial cooperation,” saying it would position Spanish companies at the center of an internationally scoped initiative.

Cem Devrim Yaylali is a Turkey correspondent for Defense News. He is a keen photographer of military ships and has a passion for writing about naval and defense issues. He was born in Paris, France, and resides in Istanbul, Turkey. He is married with one son.

伊斯坦布尔——土耳其航空航天工业公司（TUSAŞ）与空中客车公司和由15家西班牙公司组成的“西班牙团队”签署了一份谅解备忘录，探讨在西班牙未来喷气式教练机项目上的合作。

该协议是在马德里举行的西班牙国防展览会（Feindef）期间签署的，重点是开发一种新的综合训练系统（ITS-C），该系统最终将取代西班牙空军服役了53年的19架F-5M教练机。

此次合作旨在将空客在飞机设计、生产和培训方面的经验与TUSAŞ公司的Hürjet教练机相结合。Hürjet是一款双座超音速喷气式教练机，旨在为飞行员驾驶先进战斗机做好准备，并有望成为西班牙未来训练体系的关键组成部分。

该协议建立在图萨什公司与空客公司此前达成的协议基础上，并纳入了西班牙的工业企业。协议旨在深化土耳其和西班牙之间的防务关系，同时助力西班牙军事飞行员训练基础设施的现代化。

由土耳其航空航天工业公司（TUSAŞ）正在研发的“赫尔杰特”（Hürjet）战斗机，设计速度可达1.4马赫。它配备了先进的机载和地面训练系统，计划于2026年加入土耳其空军服役。

西班牙国防部负责国防工业规划的米格尔·伊沃拉·鲁伊斯中将强调了该协议的更广泛意义。他将其描述为“迈向稳固、战略性和创新性产业合作的一步”，并表示这将使西班牙企业处于一项国际性倡议的核心地位。

杰姆·德夫里姆·亚伊拉利是《防务新闻》驻土耳其记者。他热衷于拍摄军舰，并对海军和国防议题充满热情。他出生于法国巴黎，现居土耳其伊斯坦布尔。他已婚，育有一子。