A Spanish Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon II aircraft takes off at Graf Ignatievo airbase near Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on February 21, 2022

Madrid (AFP) - Spain has ordered another 25 advanced Eurofighter jets from European aerospace giant Airbus in the NATO member’s drive to modernise its air force, the defence ministry said on Friday.

The order will deliver four twin-seat and 21 single-seat planes from 2030 to replace part of the older F-18 fleet and follows a contract for 20 Eurofighter jets signed in 2022.

The planes will be assembled, tested and delivered at Airbus’s Getafe site outside Madrid and will swell Spain’s overall Eurofighter fleet to 115 aircraft.

Airbus said the programme generates 16,000 direct and indirect jobs in the country. The order “secures the supply chain in Spain and across Europe”, said Mike Schoellhorn, chief executive of Airbus Defence and Space.

The reinforcement comes “in difficult times where modernisation is essential” and Spain will “not spare efforts so that our armies have the best capacities”, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said in a statement.

Eurofighter jets boast enhanced weaponry systems capable of operating the fearsome Brimstone III and Full Meteor missiles as well as cutting-edge radar and sensors.