Fighter Jet News

F-16 Fighting Falcon News

Czech Government seeks bids for advanced fighters

May 18, 1999 (by Lieven Dewitte) - The Czech government has sent letters to five western countries expressing interest in purchasing advanced fighter aircraft, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. The letters were sent by the Czech Defense Ministry to the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Sweden and Germany.
He declined to give the exact number of fighters the Czechs intended to buy, but a plan widely discussed in recent years calls for the purchase of some 24 to 36 planes to replace the current aging fleet of Soviet-made MiG 21s. The government expected preliminary offers by September. The cabinet would then evaluate the bids and fine-tune its demands before opening a tender.

Lockheed Martin and Boeing Co's McDonnell Douglas have shown interest in supplying the Czech airforce. Among European suitors have been France's Dassault Aviation, which makes Mirage fighters, and a consortium of British Aerospace and Sweden's Saab, which makes the Jas-39 Grippen. Another jet on offer would be the Eurofighter, developed by the four-nation consortium Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH, which includes British Aerospace, Daimler-Benz Aerospace, CASA of Spain and Finmeccanica SpA unit Alenia.

A new NATO-member, Czech has long planned to buy new or used western-made fighters, but a lack of funds during the post-Communist economic transformation has repeatedly delayed any purchase. Repka said the government was asking for a deal which would include off-set programs -- where aircraft makers would provide contracts for the production of components and other goods to Czech companies -- totaling at least the value of the fighters.

The Defense Ministry said the country wanted to have the fighters in operation by 2004. The Czech news agency CTK said an internal Finance Ministry analysis showed that 36 new jets would cost 31 to 44 billion crowns ($1.24 billion), and the total package, including logistics and ammunition, would have a price tag of 44 to 57 billion crowns. ($1-35. 39 Czech Crown)"