Czech Ministers Reject Proposals For Ukraine L-159 Transfer

Czech ministers have rejected a proposal made by the country’s president to offer Aero Vodochody L-159 Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (ALCA) to Ukraine.

President Petr Pavel proposed a transfer of the subsonic aircraft during a visit to Ukraine earlier this month, suggesting it could be useful to counter one-way-attack drones.

He had suggested that taking four aircraft from the Czech Air Force fleet would pose an acceptable level of risk. Aviation Week Network data shows the service currently has 24 L-159s in service in three different versions.

However, during a meeting of the country’s coalition government on Jan. 19, ministers dismissed the proposal, suggesting that the Czech Republic still required the aircraft.

“We know that Ukraine wants and needs them, but the planes are simply not available, and it is not true that it is somewhere in the hangar and not used,” Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told Czech media after a cabinet meeting.

Babiš leads a populist government that includes far-right parties that do not support providing military assistance to Ukraine. Similar views are reflected by the governments in Hungary and Slovakia.

ALCA was not a big success for Aero Vodochody. The company launched the effort off the back of a Czech Air Force order for 72 aircraft bu the air arm later decided it needed only 24 jets to fulfill its requirements, leaving the rest to be stored under controlled conditions at Aero Vodochody’s facility just outside Prague.

Twenty-four of the stored jets have been sold to U.S. live air training company Draken International, while Iraq took 14 aircraft, including four purchased from the Czech Air Force by Aero and then passed to the Iraqi Air Force.

The Czech Republic had been a major supplier of defense equipment to Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion, providing armored vehicles, weapons and Hind attack helicopters.