Czechia has prepared proposals to supply L-39 Skyfox trainer-combat aircraft to Bulgaria, Poland and Slovakia. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced this at the Prague Security Dialogue conference.
According to him, Czechia has sold Serbia six L-39 Skyfox aircraft manufactured by Aero Vodochody, as well as a batch of L-410 transport aircraft. Babiš said the deal had been confirmed following the summer talks in Belgrade.
“We managed to sell Serbia six of these aircraft, and we also sold L-410 aircraft,” Andrej Babiš said.The Czech prime minister pointed out that the L-39 Skyfox aircraft are intended not only for training military pilots. The aircraft can also be used to carry out missions to counter unmanned aerial vehicles. This expands their role beyond standard flight training.
Bulgaria is among the potential buyers
Czechia continues to offer the aircraft on the international market, with Bulgaria among the countries for which specific proposals have already been prepared. Poland and Slovakia are in the same group. The publicly available information does not make clear whether Sofia has made a decision to purchase the aircraft or whether, at this stage, the matter concerns only an offer.
The L-39 Skyfox is a new-generation trainer-combat platform manufactured by Aero Vodochody. In addition to pilot training, it is intended for light combat missions and countering unmanned systems.
The aircraft already has customers in Europe and Asia
Armenia has also announced the purchase of L-39 Skyfox aircraft. Other customers of the platform include Hungary and Vietnam.
Following Babiš’s announcement, the next step for Bulgaria would be to evaluate the proposal and decide whether to begin official negotiations on the number of aircraft, their configuration and the terms of a potential deal.
Sources: focus-news.net, cesky.radio.cz