According to a report by Infodefensa, the Spanish Ministry of Defense report by Infodefensa the Spanish Ministry of Defense is planning a tender this year with a budget of over 210 million euros for the purchase of class I and II drones.
According to the report, the project is part of the Ministry’s annual procurement plan and is managed by the Directorate General of Armaments and Materiel (DGAM) through a negotiated procedure with public tender.
The Spanish armed forces began the extensive acquisition of drones last year – for land, air and space forces as well as the navy. At that time, two tenders were initiated for the procurement of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) of Class I Micro (less than two kilograms) with rotary wings and Class II Mini (take-off weight up to 15 kilograms) with fixed wings.
While the X10 drone from the US company Skydio was selected for the first tender, the second tender is still in the evaluation phase.
As Infodefensa emphasized, no detailed information is yet known about the specific types of drones to be purchased as part of the procurement plan. However, it is assumed that the focus will be on Class I drones, the so-called small category, weighing up to 120 kilograms. The RPAS Tarsis from the Spanish company Aertec, which is already in service with the army, could once again be used in this class.
In Class II, with a weight of between 150 and 600 kilograms, the Sirtap from Airbus from which the Ministry of Defense acquired nine systems acquired nine systems at the beginning of 2024 has acquired nine systems. This drone has capabilities in certain areas, such as range, that even exceed those of Class III.
Independently of this procurement project, it was announced a few days ago that the Spanish armed forces had purchased 91 Vector drones from German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems worth 27 million euros from the German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems. In future, the number of systems could be increased to around 150.
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