{"id":59977,"date":"2025-06-20T23:20:24","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T21:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=59977"},"modified":"2026-06-20T00:14:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T22:14:00","slug":"the-aircraft-and-work-of-the-claex-the-experimental-center-of-the-spanish-air-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/06\/20\/the-aircraft-and-work-of-the-claex-the-experimental-center-of-the-spanish-air-force\/","title":{"rendered":"The aircraft and work of the CLAEX, the experimental center of the Spanish Air Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experimental aviation plays a very important but relatively little-known role in military aviation.<\/p>\n

The alternative missions that Airbus plans for the A400M and that Spain could assume<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe effort that the Spanish pilot of a Eurofighter endures in some maneuvers<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

The first experimental unit of the Spanish Air Force was the Experimental Group<\/strong>, created in 1946 and located at what was then the airfield of the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA), the origin of the current Torrej\u00f3n Air Base in Madrid. This group originally depended on INTA<\/strong>, but later became the 406 Squadron in 1968 and the 44th Air Force Group in 1985, becoming independent of INTA.<\/p>\n

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One of the prototypes of the C-101 Aviojet, the XE.25-02, preserved outside the CLAEX as a memorial (Image: Fly By Wire Aviation<\/a>).<\/div>\n

In December 1986, the Air Force grouped all its experimental units and weapons squadrons into Wing 54. On that basis, the Armament and Experimentation Logistics Center (CLAEX) was created in 1991<\/strong>, located at Torrej\u00f3n Air Base and with three main missions:<\/strong> to experiment with, approve, and receive aircraft, equipment, and aerial weapons<\/strong>; to research, integrate, maintain, catalog, store, and distribute the Air Force's weapons and ammunition<\/strong>; and to design, maintain, modify, develop, validate, and verify the on-board software of the weapons systems<\/strong> used by the Air Force.<\/p>\n

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The CASA C-101EB Aviojet E.25-35 54-20 of the CLAEX, with the commemorative drift of the 25th anniversary of this center (Photo: Ej\u00e9rcito del Aire<\/a>).<\/div>\n

To carry out its work, the CLAEX has three C-101EB Aviojet training aircraft<\/strong> (if my information is correct, they are the E.25-35 54-20, the E.25-55 54-21, and the E.25-61 54-22), making it one of the last units in the Air Force to operate these veteran aircraft. In March 2023, the acquisition of 2 Pilatus PC-21s for CLAEX was announced<\/a>, within the framework of the second batch of 16 aircraft of this type purchased by the Spanish Air Force to replace their C-101s. In addition, the unit periodically receives other aircraft for development, testing, and certification processes. <\/p>\n

This Friday, Fly By Wire Aviation<\/a> (a YouTube channel that I recommend subscribing to if you enjoy the world of aviation) released an excellent report on this unit<\/strong> (the video is in Spanish, you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):<\/p>\n