Did the Spanish Air Force buy armed C-101s?

Short answer

The sources only credit it with trainers: the Spanish Air Force ordered 88 C-101EB-01 aircraft, E.25 Mirlo in service, with only a limited armed capability. The armed versions, the C-101BB and the C-101CC, were sold for export, to Honduras, Chile and Jordan.

Published: November 2, 2026 · Updated: November 2, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Did the Spanish Air Force buy armed C-101s?

CASA C-101 of the Patrulla Águila and Pilatus PC-21 of the future Formación Mirlo flying together at the Aire 25 festivalRB7MRV (CC BY SA), vía commons

An order for trainers

The initial Spanish order was for 88 aircraft, built as a dedicated trainer version, designated C-101EB-01 by CASA and E.25 Mirlo by the air force. The C-101 first flew on 27 June 1977, and the first aircraft entered service with the Spanish Air Force on 17 March 1980.

The planned secondary roles

Secondary roles envisaged included ground attack, armed escort, photographic reconnaissance and use as an electronic countermeasures (ECM) platform. The initial model had only a limited armed capability, and that attack capability was expanded in the aircraft built later.

The armed versions, for export

While the Spanish Air Force operated mainly the trainer version, the C-101BB was an armed version for training and ground attack intended for export: Honduras bought 4 and Chile 12. The C-101CC, armed and dedicated solely to attack missions, was sold to Jordan (16) and Chile (23). It could carry a 30 mm DEFA cannon or two 12.7 mm M3 machine guns in removable pods under the forward fuselage, plus up to 2,220 kg (4,894 lb) of stores on six underwing pylons. The last version developed, the C-101DD, was demonstrated by CASA in 1985 with greatly improved avionics: a head-up display, HOTAS cockpit, AN/ALR-66 radar warning receiver, chaff and flare countermeasures and the capability to carry the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missile; by 2000 it had attracted no orders.