The CLAEX of the Spanish Air Force receives its two Pilatus PC-21s for testing

The Spanish Air Force continues to incorporate Swiss-made Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft into its fleet.

The aircraft and work of the CLAEX, the experimental center of the Spanish Air Force
The Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft of the Spanish Air Force seen up close

Two years ago we already saw here that Spain will be one of the largest operators of the PC-21 with 40 units. After the initial order of 24 aircraft in 2020, three years later the Spanish government decided to sign a second batch of 16 PC-21s, 14 of them for the Elementary School of the General Air Academy (AGA) in San Javier and 2 for the Logistics Center for Armament and Experimentation (CLAEX), located at the Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base (Madrid). The Spanish Air Force has announced today the arrival of these two PC-21 aircraft for CLAEX, publishing this video showing the moment:

The Spanish Air Force indicated that the aircraft arrived this Thursday. The aircraft arrived with their roundels and unit numbers covered, as is customary for these deliveries. Both PC-21s bore provisional Swiss civilian registrations: HB-HWA for the E.27-39 (10325, 54-39), and HB-HWP for the E.27-40 (10326, 54-40).

"The PC-21s will be used primarily as follower aircraft in test campaigns assigned to other air systems, complementing the veteran C101 fleet available at CLAEX for these tasks," the Spanish Air Force stated. Unlike the aircraft of the same type used by the AGA, these two PC-21s are equipped with instrumentation specifically designed for testing at CLAEX.

The Spanish Air Force has stated that "the new aircraft represent a leap forward in the maintenance and updating of training in test techniques for the crew members stationed at the center, both test pilots and test engineers. The aircraft handover ceremony was attended by the Director of Sustainability and Operational Logistics Support of the Air Force Logistics Support Command (MALOG), Major General Carlos Pérez Martínez, "who attended a briefing on the aircraft's integrated instrumentation and a demonstration of the new capabilities."

CLAEX was created in 1991, although its origins date back to 1946, the year of the founding of the Experimental Group of the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA). The group came under the command of the Spanish Air Force in 1968, becoming the 406 Squadron, and was renamed the 44 Air Force Group in 1985. In 1986, CLAEX was incorporated into Wing 54, an affiliation it maintains today.

In addition to these new PC-21s, CLAEX has three C-101EB Aviojet training aircraft (the E.25-35 54-20, the E.25-55 54-21 and the E.25-61 54-22), being one of the last Air Force units to use it, after the dissolution of the Patrulla Águila in June 2025.

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Images: Ejército del Aire / Fly By Wire Aviation.