F-16 supersonic multirole fighter aircraft (source: AP/SITA)
US Congress will soon approve the Letter of Offer and Acceptance to Slovakia concerning the purchase of a F-16 supersonic multi-role fighter aircraft. It is an ordinary procedure which does not mean that the ministry’s management has already decided on purchasing this specific type of fighter, the Slovak Defence Ministry stressed.
After considering the offer, submitted by both Americans and Swedes, Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš will submit the most efficient solution to the Slovak government, ministry’s spokesperson Danka Capáková told the SITA newswire.
Part of the offer for Slovakia, which will be approved by US Congress, concerns the installment calendar for the aircraft and equipment, training and logistics support. The Defence Ministry will compare the offer with the one submitted by Sweden, which has offered the purchase of JAS – 39 Gripen plans.
Slovakia is interested in purchasing a total of 14 fighter planes, SITA reported.
The information from the offer approved by Congress will be subsequently published on the website of the Defence Security Cooperation Agency, as was done when UH-60 M Black Hawk helicopters were purchased. In this case, the total sum will be increased to the maximum possible extent of cooperation.
However, this does not mean that if approved by the Slovak government the whole sum will be accepted. The final offer might also include potential future requirements and needs of the ordering party to avoid another approval process, SITA wrote.
