Airbus Defence & Space is poised to launch ground-based testing of Spain’s in-development SIRTAP tactical unmanned air vehicle (UAV), having completed the assembly of a first prototype.
Pictured at the company’s Getafe site near Madrid, the platform is to be subjected to structural evaluations and testing of its “main system components and software” over the next few months, the company says.
That work will be followed by a first flight event, “scheduled by the end of 2025”, to be conducted from the National Institute of Aerospace Technology’s unmanned systems test centre (CEUS) in Huelva.
“The subsequent SIRTAP flight-test campaign at CEUS will run throughout 2026 and will be essential in obtaining the airworthiness type certification and ensure that the aircraft meets the highest safety and performance standards,” Airbus’s defence unit says.
A first system delivery to the Spanish military will be made in the first half of 2027. Madrid in November 2023 signed a development and production order covering 27 UAVs and nine ground control stations. The deal also covers the provision of two simulators.
“SIRTAP will strengthen national sovereignty and will be a benchmark in the tactical unmanned aerial systems segment worldwide,” says Jean-Brice Dumont, head of air power at Airbus Defence & Space.
