06/01/2014
(Infodefensa.com) Madrid - The Spanish Armada was forced to terminate a letter of its fleet of fighters vertical takeoff Harrier as a result of budget cuts the Defense Ministry , as did a few days ago the carrier Prince of Asturias , the only available active
Four of the 16 Harrier short takeoff and vertical landing (STVOL) will be out of service due to the lack of funds for modernization and the high cost of maintenance, reports the newspaper El País .
was These are the older devices, four AV-8B Harrier that had not been processed version AV-8B Harrier II Plus that incorporates a more modern radar, among other improvements. The modernization of these aircraft was awarded in 2008 to EADS Defense and Security Spain valued at 11.5 million euros.
fleet will be thus reduced to 12 units (plus training) whose operational life is expected to conclude in 2020. The choice of F-35 U.S. Since then, Spain should buy a replacement if you want to continue to have embarked aviation, which is not guaranteed, as the only candidate today is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter , in which program development does not participate. Both users Harrier plus Spain - United States and Great Britain - have already been decided by the F-35 manufactured by the U.S. Lockheed Martin designing two modes, the C, conventional takeoff and B, vertical takeoff. Italy, like other countries with small aircraft carrier, also has been tilted for purchasing the F-35B to equip its future aircraft carrier Cavour . Already in 2009, the U.S. company Lockheed Martin told a group of Spanish journalists who moved his factory in Forth Worth (Texas, USA) that the F-35B would be the natural replacement for the Harrier Spanish. since their managers have tried that Spain was incorporated into the development phase of the new fifth-generation fighter unsuccessfully so far . Some have wanted to understand the various Spanish governments have not decided on this option pending, especially a European solution could appear EADS -. thing now seems unlikely that the Spanish Armada in a paper on the general lines that should mark future of 2007 signed by then Chief General Sebastián Zaragoza , and was in favor of addressing the replacement aircraft Harrier with the F-35 in a joint manner with the Air Force and figured I would need about 20 units. Refills flight also the Air Force runs the risk of losing one of its main capabilities: strategic refueling. One of two Boeing 707 that fulfilled this function and has been discharged and the other should be in two years. The Air Force has five KC-130 Hercules to resupply, but its performance is not comparable to the B-707 . The solution is to buy two tanker aircraft Airbus 330 , but each one costs about 200 million and so far there is no budget, added the same newspaper.