Czech air defence faces transition crisis: NATO steps in?
The Czech Defence Minister, Jana Černochová, admitted that if her country does not reach an agreement with Sweden regarding the continued leasing of Gripens, NATO allies will have to take over air defence for the Czech Republic.
Jana Černochová spoke about the uncertainty surrounding the Czech air force in an interview with the portal aktualne.cz. She pointed out that until 2027, the Czech Republic will be using 14 Gripen fighters leased from Sweden. These are eventually to be replaced by F-35 fighters ordered by Prague, but they are not expected to enter service before 2031.
The Czechs might be left without fighters. Help from Poland?
If no agreement is reached with the Swedes, there could be issues during the so-called "transition period," during which the Czechs would need to rely on help from NATO. Černochová admitted that initial offers to help protect the airspace have already come from Germany, Slovakia, and Poland.
The portal aktualne.cz noted that sharing airspace protection tasks among NATO ally countries is part of air policing missions and is a very common practice. This approach is familiar to Czech pilots who have already participated in such missions, for example, over the Baltic countries or Iceland.
Negotiations on the new leasing agreement with Sweden are ongoing, but the parties differ on the financial terms of the cooperation. Stockholm requires the maintenance of fixed leasing fees until the end of the contract, while Prague wants them to decrease as more F-35s are introduced into service.
Valued but not widespread fighters
The JAS-39 Gripen (JAS: Jakt – fighter, Attack – attack, Spaning – reconnaissance) is a multirole fighter manufactured by the aerospace company SAAB. This single-engine aircraft with delta wings and canard control surfaces offers pilots excellent manoeuvrability and the ability to travel at speeds up to Mach 2 (about 2,130 km/h).
The JAS-39 Gripen measures about 14 metres in length. It can operate at altitudes up to 18,000 metres and eliminate hostile targets with a diverse arsenal. It is standardly equipped with a 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon. Still, it can also carry mounted missiles and bombs with significantly greater firepower, including AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missiles.
A distinguishing feature of the JAS-39 Gripen is its ability to operate from short, improvised runways (about 800 metres in length, and in exceptional circumstances even about 500 metres).
In Europe, only Sweden, Hungary, and the Czech Republic use JAS-39 Gripen fighters. Shortly, Ukraine may join the group of users of these aircraft.
