{"id":51547,"date":"2023-05-12T22:38:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T20:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=51547"},"modified":"2024-05-12T03:29:58","modified_gmt":"2024-05-12T01:29:58","slug":"l-159-alca-this-is-the-first-fighter-made-by-a-nato-country-that-ukraine-could-receive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/05\/12\/l-159-alca-this-is-the-first-fighter-made-by-a-nato-country-that-ukraine-could-receive\/","title":{"rendered":"L-159 ALCA: this is the first fighter made by a NATO country that Ukraine could receive"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the delivery of MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine<\/a> by Slovakia and Poland, more modern aircraft could arrive soon.<\/p>\n

The images of the first four MiG-29 fighters delivered to Ukraine by Slovakia<\/a><\/rel>
\nConfirmed: Ukrainian Air Force will receive 25 MiG-29s from Poland and Slovakia<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

This Wednesday, the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, has announced<\/a> that the Czech Air Force could deliver some of its L-159 ALCA to Ukraine<\/strong>, a fighter subsonic light manufactured by the Czech Republic, in order to support the upcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive against the Russian invaders. It would be the first combat aircraft manufactured by a NATO country that Ukraine would receive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
An Aero L-39 of the Ukrainian Air Force (Source: \u041a\u043e\u043c\u0430\u043d\u0434\u0443\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044f \u041f\u043e\u0432\u0456\u0442\u0440\u044f\u043d\u0438\u0445 \u0421\u0438\u043b \u0417\u0421\u0423).<\/div>\n

The manufacturer of the L-159 is the Czech company Aero Vodochody<\/strong>, creator of the first jet aircraft built in the former Czechoslovakia, the L-29 Delf\u00edn training aircraft (which made its first flight in 1959), and that she is also the author of a very successful aircraft, the L-39 Albatros (1971) <\/strong>, a training and light attack aircraft of which 2,900 units were manufactured and sold to dozens of countries. Ukraine is one of its operators.<\/strong> The L-39 had a successor in the 1980s, the L-59 Super Albatros (1986), which was less commercially successful (only used by the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Egypt and Tunisia).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Two L-159A ALCA of the 212th Tactical Squadron of the Czech Air Force (Source: TVArmycz<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The L-159 ALCA made its first flight on August 2, 1997.<\/strong> It measures 12.72 meters long and has a 9.54-meter wingspan. It is equipped with a turbofan engine that provides a thrust of 28.2 kN. It can reach a maximum speed of 936 km\/h, with a range of 1,570 km and a service ceiling of 13,200 meters. It has seven weapon racks in which it can carry three 20mm cannon pods, AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles<\/strong>, AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles, LAU-5002 and LAU-5003 rocket launchers, GBU-12 and GBU-16 laser-guided bombs, and Mk-82 and Mk-83 conventional bombs.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Two L-159A ALCA of the 212th Tactical Squadron of the Czech Air Force, with low-visibility insignia (Photo: Aero Vodochody).<\/div>\n

The FTAA military operators are the Czech Air Force and the Iraqi Air Force<\/strong>, and it also has three civilian operators: Draken Europe (from the United Kingdom) and the American companies Draken International and Lewis Fighter Fleet. The Czech Republic has two squadrons of these aircraft, with 24 units in total: the 212th Tactical Squadron<\/strong>, with 14 L-159A fighter and attack single-seaters and two L-159T1 two-seater trainers, and the 213th Training Squadron<\/strong>, with two L-159A single-seaters, three L-159T1 two-seaters and three L-159T2 two-seaters. We can see here a video from the Czech Armed Forces showing two L-159As<\/strong> of the 212th Tactical Squadron:<\/p>\n