3 February 2020: Ejercito del Aire, the Spanish Air Force has opted to buy the Swiss-produced PC-21, the Next Generation Trainer. Pilatus will be delivering a total of 24 PC-21s to Spain. The single-engine turboprop trainer aircraft will replace the Casa C-101 jet trainers which were used since 1980.
The Ministry of Defence was searching for a new, highly efficient training platform which would offer advanced training for Spain's future military pilots tasked with protecting future generations. After a long and extremely professional evaluation, Pilatus won the tender with the PC-21. The contract which is valued over 200 million euros, was signed with the Spanish Direccion General de Armamento y Material (DGAM). Comprising an integrated training system, the order consists of simulators developed and produced by Pilatus, spare parts and logistics support in addition to the PC-21 aircraft.
Oscar J. Schwenk, Chairman of Pilatus said, "As a small Swiss aircraft manufacturer, I'm delighted at our repeated success in winning through over large, international competitors. This result is proof that, with our PC-21, we can deliver the very best training system in the world."