Spain’s Air and Space Force has selected the Airbus A321 as the basis for three future crewed SIGINT aircraft under its Santiago II, or SCAPA, programme. The narrowbody jet will replace an earlier airborne intelligence capability and form the core of a new national signals-intelligence fleet focused on collecting, classifying and identifying emissions from aircraft adapted for the mission.
The choice emerged through coverage of the Spanish Air Force’s official journal, with the A321neo identified as the preferred platform after a definition study involving Airbus and Indra. That study, awarded late last year, is designed to establish the most suitable aircraft and mission-system integration before the programme moves to the implementation phase.
The A321’s size gives Spain more internal volume for antennas, operator stations, processors, power generation and cooling than a smaller business-jet design. Reports place the total programme budget at about €436 million and indicate that the final aircraft will need substantial modification for SIGINT work.
The exact A321 variant has not been disclosed. Spain’s aim is to field three missionised aircraft capable of restoring a sovereign airborne intelligence role that has been absent since the retirement of earlier platforms, including the Boeing 707-based aircraft used in the past.