Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Airbus Defence and Space
- Origin / production countries
- Spain
- Other names
- SIRTAP; U850
- Variants / configurations
- SIRTAP / U850; Spanish unarmed ISR configuration; armed growth proposed
- Operators / programme customers
- Spanish Army and Air and Space Force — ordered, deliveries planned
Evidence & current status
Specifications are programme claims. Current product page has an incomplete mass value; the older 750 kg design figure is retained only with its date.
U850 SIRTAP is Airbus's Spanish-led tactical UAV programme, intended to bridge smaller reconnaissance aircraft and larger MALE systems. Airbus identifies Getafe as the centre of industrial leadership, assembly and integration. The core Spanish configuration is unarmed intelligence and surveillance; optional armed growth capability is not a statement that the ordered aircraft already carry those systems.
Spain's November 2023 contract covers nine systems comprising 27 aircraft and associated ground equipment. Airbus announced completion of the first prototype's assembly in June 2025. The current product page gives first deliveries in 2028, later than the 2027 date in that earlier release. This profile preserves the later published schedule without claiming delivery or operational acceptance has occurred.
Published technical baselines have also evolved. The 2024 poster lists 750 kg maximum take-off mass, while the current webpage contains an incomplete mass entry and different payload wording. A clear current certified mass is therefore not inferred from the new U850 designation. Endurance, range and sensor fits remain supplier programme specifications pending configuration-specific test and acceptance evidence.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Fixed-wing tactical reconnaissance aircraft | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Conventional runway; semi-prepared runway operation advertised | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | 2024 design poster: 750 kg MTOW; current webpage mass is incomplete | Historical design baseline; requires current confirmation. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | More than 20 hours | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Range | More than 2,000 km mission range with SATCOM, supplier claim | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Speed | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | More than 21,000 ft service ceiling | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Payload | More than 150 kg; up to 180 kg depending on configuration | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | EO/IR and radar configurations | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight SATCOM | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
Documented milestones
Prototype assembly completed
Airbus announced readiness for ground testing; current product page now places first deliveries in 2028.
Read the announcement ↗
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
Suggest a correction to this entry →
Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- Current U850 SIRTAP programme and schedule (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
- Prototype assembly announcement, 17 June 2025 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
- SIRTAP design poster, 2024 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme