STEWART PENNEY / LONDON & LUBOMIR SEDLAK / PRAGUE
Approval by the Czech parliament of a deal for 24 Saab/BAE Gripen multirole fighters, expected as Flight International closed for press, is a key building block in the armed forces shift from being Soviet-style warriors to becoming an integral part of NATO. The Czech Republic, with Hungary and Poland, joined the alliance in 1999.
The Gripen will be one arm of a two-pronged combat aircraft strategy, with the fighter providing the multirole, but predominately air defence element of the air force, with the smaller and subsonic Aero Vodochody L-159 light strike aircraft earmarked for ground attack and point defence missions.
Purchasing the Gripen has not been easy. The final part of the competition dragged on for most of last year and Saab/BAE has provided loans to cover the purchase, as well as an offset programme valued at 150% of the CKr50 billion ($1.35 billion) deal.
Buying the Gripen does not appear to have ended procurement ties with Russia. A deal was cemented this month for Russia to provide three Antonov An-70 transports and seven Mil Mi-35 Hind attack helicopters as part payment of Moscow's outstanding debt to Prague. The transports and helicopter deal is worth $300-$400 milion, with the aircraft due for delivery by 2006.
The Mi-24/25/35 family is fairly common in NATO. It is also operated by Hungary and Poland, and upgrades to improve the combat helicopter's integration with NATO forces, are planned. The An-70, however, will be unique in NATO and although standard radios and communications equipment can be fitted there will inevitably be other problems supporting the aircraft when it is deployed outside the Czech Republic.
The Czech military is divided on the deal. Chief of staff Jirí Sediv is understood to believe the An-70s are too expensive, but deputy defence minister Stefan Fülle says the deal would not have been signed if this was so. Fülle is supported by other military officials, who note that NATO says the Czech Republic needs large-capacity transport more than it needs the Gripens.
After the Gripen, the Czech armed forces' biggest acquisition is 72 light-attack/trainer L-159s. Service introduction has not gone smoothly and air force pilots did not begin training on the aircraft until March last year, by which time 12 single-seat L-159As had been delivered, although 21 should have been handed over by the end of 2000.
Delayed service entry was followed in May last year with an announcement by defence minister Jaroslav Tvrdik that only half the 72 aircraft procured would enter service. All will be delivered and the Czech government will seek buyers for the other aircraft.
The L-159As that do enter service replace a host of Soviet-built aircraft in the attack role. Many have already been retired as the airframe fatigue lives have expired and life cycle costs have grown to unsustainable levels.
In recent years, Sukhoi Su-22M Fitter and Su-25 Frogfoot strike aircraft have been grounded, as have Mikoyan MiG-23 Flogger fighters.
Airworthiness levels and the ability of the Czech armed forces to defend the country are often fiercely criticised in local media.
The defence ministry has denied that the country has only four operational Mikoyan MiG-21s, but acknowledges only four have NATO-standard communications equipment.
Source: Flight International
