Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on Wednesday, September 27, that the Czech Republic intends to purchase 24 F-35 fighter jets, which are manufactured in the United States.
The Czech Republic will buy 24 US-made F-35 fighter jets, Prime Minister Petr Fiala told reporters on Wednesday.
“The first F-35s will be ready in 2029 and our pilots will start training with them in the United States then,” Fiala said.
He added that the first supersonic jets would arrive in the Czech Republic in 2031 and the army would have all 24 planes at its disposal by 2035.
Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said the total price was 150 billion koruna ($6.5 billion).
The Czech army currently uses 14 Swedish-made JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets, supplied in 2005. Their lease will expire in 2027.
Starting next year, the government plans to spend two percent of its gross domestic product on defense, in line with its NATO pledge.
The US State Department approved the sale of the F-35s to the Czech army in June.
Produced by Lockheed Martin and equipped with anti-detection stealth technology, F-35s are used across NATO, but also by Australia, Japan, Israel and South Korea.
Other countries, including neutral Switzerland, have also signed deals to buy the planes, which were launched in 2006.
The Czech army recently bought US-made Viper combat helicopters and Venom multipurpose helicopters, replacing obsolete Russian-made Mi-24 aircraft, some of which it has sent to Ukraine.
Czech pilots are also using locally made L-159 fighter jets.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
