{"id":64048,"date":"2026-03-19T21:56:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T20:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=64048"},"modified":"2026-03-26T16:24:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:24:54","slug":"the-czech-l-39ng-skyfox-aircraft-an-example-of-what-spain-was-able-to-do-with-the-c-101-aviojet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/03\/19\/the-czech-l-39ng-skyfox-aircraft-an-example-of-what-spain-was-able-to-do-with-the-c-101-aviojet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Czech L-39NG Skyfox aircraft, an example of what Spain was able to do with the C-101 Aviojet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Spain has the great advantage of being part of the Airbus consortium and contributing to major projects such as the Eurofighter and the A400M.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><rel><a href=\"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\/\">L-159 ALCA: this is the first fighter made by a NATO country that Ukraine could receive<\/a><\/rel><br \/>\n<rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/10\/01\/one-of-the-last-spanish-casa-c-101-aviojet-planes-in-service-shown-up-close\/\">One of the last Spanish CASA C-101 Aviojet planes in service shown up close<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n<p>However, some needs remain unmet. This is the case with <strong>the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/tag\/casa-c-101-aviojet\/\">CASA C-101 Aviojet<\/a> training aircraft<\/strong>, which has been replaced in Spain by a turboprop, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/tag\/casa-c-101-aviojet\/\">Pilatus PC-21<\/a>. I don't doubt the quality of this aircraft, but <strong>it's a shame that Spain, which years ago was able to manufacture its own jet trainers<\/strong> (not only the Aviojet, but also the 1955 Hispano Aviaci\u00f3n HA-200 Saeta), <strong>can no longer meet this need on its own, despite having an industry like Airbus.<\/strong> It's a matter of political will.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dny NATO 2025 - L-39 Skyfox\" width=\"665\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/joFQujq7bGc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I was prompted to make this reflection after watching this video published by the YouTube channel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@NATO-Days\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NATO Days<\/a>, in which we see <strong>an Aero L-39NG Skyfox in an exhibition at Ostrava airport in 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157012721_d8369e6d0d_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157012721_ca33191593_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Skyfox is a development of the famous Czechoslovakian Aero L-39 Albatross training aircraft<\/strong> (pictured above), with which it shares its designation, adding the initials NG for \"Next Generation.\"<strong> The Albatross made its first flight on November 4, 1968, and was a huge sales success.<\/strong> Around 2,900 units were built and sold to dozens of countries, including the Soviet Union and its satellite states (at the time, Czechoslovakia was under a communist dictatorship imposed by Moscow). <strong>Even today, the Albatross continues to have dozens of military and civilian operators.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157389695_b7f71f0fd5_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157389695_ba471ef1a2_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The launch of the Skyfox was announced in July 2014.<\/strong> Its development took place between 2015 and 2024, with the collaboration of two American companies: <strong>Williams International<\/strong>, which manufactures the FJ44-4M turbofan engine for this new Czech aircraft (replacing the Soviet Ivchenko AI-25TL engine of the Albatros), and <strong>Draken International<\/strong>, which has a fleet of aircraft with which it provides training services to air forces.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157169493_22169e5398_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157169493_683c0bc680_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Skyfox's first flight took place on September 14, 2015.<\/strong> Four prototypes of this aircraft were built, and the program has been divided into two phases. <strong>The first phase consists of offering an upgrade to L-39 Albatros operators<\/strong>, with new avionics and a new engine, while utilizing the fuselages of the older aircraft. <strong>The second phase consists of offering completely new aircraft.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157389705_313e0d819f_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157389705_9b7e034507_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Externally, the L-39NG is very similar to the Albatross<\/strong>. It has those characteristic air intakes above the wings and a pointed nose that makes it look like a light attack aircraft.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157012706_de8a3ec656_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157012706_ba13aba5b4_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The main differences are a wider cockpit<\/strong>, with detonating cords on the windows to facilitate ejection, <strong>and wet wings<\/strong>, as fully enclosed wings are known in aeronautics to house fuel tanks. <strong>The old wingtip fuel tanks are gone<\/strong>, leaving a wing design very similar to that of the C-101.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157169463_92d15bdd18_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157169463_0beb6808f6_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The L-39NG is lighter than the L-39<\/strong> (3,100 kg empty weight vs. 3,455 kg), <strong>much faster<\/strong> (900 km\/h vs. 750 km\/h), <strong>and has a much greater range<\/strong> (2,590 km vs. 1,100 km). Its service ceiling is slightly higher (11,500 meters vs. 11,000 meters), as is its rate of climb (23 m\/s vs. 21 m\/s). <strong>Furthermore, it can carry more armament<\/strong> (1,640 kg on five hardpoints vs. 284 kg on two hardpoints).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157169508_0fbb361a36_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157169508_b055d00929_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The philosophy of Aero Vodochody, the Czech manufacturer of the Skyfox, has been simple and logical: <strong>if you have a good aircraft, why build a completely new one? Improve what you already have<\/strong>. We're talking about a training aircraft, not a fighter jet. There's no need to change what's working well and start from scratch. <strong>Spain could have done the same with the C-101 Aviojet, but missed the opportunity.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55156109442_ba0affe34b_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55156109442_f9cc0c33d8_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Currently, the Skyfox already has three operators. The Pardubice Flight Training Center (CLV)<\/strong>, a Czech state-owned company that provides training to national and foreign pilots, operates eight L-39NG.T1s. In addition, two Albatros operators have placed orders: the <strong>Hungarian Air Force<\/strong> has purchased 12 (above), eight L-39NG.T1s for training and four L-39NG.R1s for reconnaissance missions. Furthermore, the <strong>Vietnamese Air Force <\/strong>has ordered 12 L-39NG.A1s, a training and combat variant (below).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157169443_16bf8c7ae1_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55157169443_5be150927a_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Slovakia also has plans to acquire the Skyfox. Additionally, Ghana and Senegal have expressed interest in the aircraft.<\/strong> Draken International also aims to upgrade its Albatros to the NG version. Austria and Portugal also showed interest in the Skyfox, but ultimately the sales fell through.<\/p>\n<p>---<\/p>\n<p><small>Photos: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/aerovodochody\/photos\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aero Vodochody<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spain has the great advantage of being part of the Airbus consortium and contributing to major projects such as the Eurofighter and the A400M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19534,11546],"tags":[1370,26492,997,26494,13230,11565,26496,26493],"class_list":["post-64048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense-portada-eng","category-military-aviation","tag-aero-l-39-albatros","tag-aero-l-39ng-skyfox","tag-casa-c-101-aviojet","tag-centrum-leteckeho-vycviku-clv","tag-draken-international","tag-hungarian-air-force","tag-vietnam-air-force","tag-williams-international"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-02 00:53:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}