The USA has offered Slovakia the purchase of new Bell AH-1Z Viper combat helicopters at a significant discount. This will be in exchange for old Slovak MiG-29 fighters, which are planned to be transferred to Ukraine.
This was written by the Minister of Defense of Slovakia Jaroslav Nad.
According to him, Slovakia will pay $340 million for this package over three to four years, although its real value is more than a billion dollars. The difference in cost will be covered by the US.
In addition to the helicopters, the agreement provides for the purchase of spare parts, pilot training, and more than 500 Hellfire missiles.
"This offer is very beneficial and will significantly increase the defense potential of the Slovak Republic. We donʼt have combat helicopters now, so this will be a completely new combat capability," he wrote.
- On March 17, the Slovak government approved the transfer of 13 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. This was reported by the Prime Minister of the country Eduard Heger. In addition to the MiG-29, part of the Soviet-made Kub anti-aircraft missile systems will be transferred to Ukraine. It is not yet known how many there will be.