• Contributing roughly €1.7 billion to Spanish GDP and creating nearly 700 jobs in Spain each year.
• The Madrid Community, Basque Country, Castilla la Mancha, and Andalusia are the main beneficiaries.

According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) analysis on the economic implications of the ‘Halcon’ and ‘Quadriga’ contracts for the country, the Eurofighter program will ensure 26,000 jobs in Spain until 2060.

The study, which was funded by Airbus and conducted independently by PWC over a six-month period until March 2023, estimates that the manufacturing phase (2020-2030) and maintenance phase (2023-2060) of the Halcon and Quadriga programs will create an average of 657 jobs – direct, indirect, and induced – per year, totaling 26,000 positions by 2060. This translates to a total yearly employment effect of 2.7% in the Spanish aerospace sector.

Both Eurofighter Tranche 4 contracts are estimated to contribute over €1.7 billion to Spanish GDP, with Halcon manufacturing and maintenance accounting for roughly €1.5 billion and Quadriga production accounting for the remaining €200 million.

During both phases, the employment and economic contribution will yield a total tax collection of €430 million, of which €151 million will be direct contribution. Furthermore, for every euro collected directly, the Spanish economy will earn €2.8 in overall tax income.

The Halcon contract, signed in June 2022, is for the purchase of 20 latest-generation Eurofighter jets to replace the Spanish Air Force’s aging F-18 fleet on the Canary Islands.

The Halcon program was launched in response to the Quadriga deal, signed in 2020, to provide 38 new Eurofighter aircraft to the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), making Germany the country with the most orders for Europe’s largest defense program.

The Halcon program will increase the Spanish Eurofighter fleet to 90 aircraft, with the first delivery scheduled for 2026, assuring industrial production activities until 2030. Quadriga ensures manufacture of the new Tranche 4 Eurofighter, the most contemporary combat aircraft built in Europe, until 2030, with a service life well beyond 2060. Both programs are critical to ensuring national and European strategic autonomy in defense when it counts the most.

In total, the Eurofighter program supports over 100,000 employment in Europe, which will be bolstered in the future by next-generation aircraft such as the Tranche 4, as well as technology breakthroughs within the Eurofighter development.