Defence

Sweden’s Defence Materiel Administration delivered the last two of 14 Saab JAS39 Gripens to the Czech Republic on schedule on 31 August, just 14 months after signing a 10-year lease agreement with the Czech government.

The two aircraft – twin-seat JAS39D trainers – completed a delivery flight of about 1h from near Linkoping, Sweden, to the Czech air force’s Caslav airbase, where they will join up with the service’s 12 JAS39C fighters.

By late last month the Czech service had amassed more than 300 flight hours with its Gripen fleet since receiving its first six aircraft last April, including quick reaction alert sorties.

Worth 19.6 billion crowns ($815 million), the lease deal also covers spare parts, pilot and ground crew training and a flight simulator, plus an offset package worth 25 billion crowns.