WARSAW, Poland — The Slovak Defense Ministry is considering buying four more F-16 fighter jets in addition to the 14 already on order, a move to compensate for Bratislava’s decision to cancel the purchase of 12 Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters equipped with AGM-114 Hellfire II air-to-surface missiles.
Last January, Lockheed Martin announced that the first two of 14 F-16 fighter jets had been delivered to Slovakia, with more due to roll off the production line by the end of the year. But Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Robert Kalyniak said the Slovak cabinet may order four more fighter jets before the 2018 aircraft contract, worth about $800 million, is completed.
“Of the 14 fighter jets we have, three to four need to be available around the clock for the NATINADS system, which also significantly reduces the number of aircraft available to fly,” he told local daily Pravda in an interview, referring to NATO’s integrated air defense system. “All these discussions have combined to lead us to start new negotiations on upgrading our aircraft, adding four more to our 14.”
Local observers said the planned purchase could be due in part to government hesitancy to continue a helicopter purchase plan initiated by the previous cabinet, which was ousted in October 2023.
Jaroslav Nad, chairman of Slovakia’s Democratic Party and former defense minister, told Defense News that the government may be using the F-16 buildup to appease the United States and manufacturer Bell, which backed out of an earlier Viper contract.
“We need to buy new helicopters for the Slovak Armed Forces, but this need cannot be met by buying additional aircraft,” Nad said. “And it will likely cost a lot more than the roughly $340 million Slovakia will spend on these helicopters,” he added. “The actual value of the Vipers and weapons is about $1 billion, so Slovakia was offered a significant discount. But now, if the government cancels the deal, it could lose the opportunity to get a modern helicopter fleet at such a price.”
Nad said the new discussions about the F-16s were “very surprising” because during his tenure, the country’s air force had never requested additional aircraft. “At the end of the day, politicians should buy what the military needs, not what they personally want,” he said.
Kalyniak, a member of the far-right government critical of aid to Ukraine, has called Viper’s proposal “disadvantageous” for Slovakia and blamed the previous government for its decision. Russia to donate 13 obsolete Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jets It will be shipped to Ukraine along with other weapons to help the country’s defense against ongoing Russian aggression.
“The Slovak Defense Ministry has made the MiG-29s donated by the previous government the focus of attention without carrying out any existing legal analysis of such a decision,” the ministry said in a statement last month. The statement added that after an “internal investigation” it had no authority to dispose of the MiG-29 fleet.
Taking the matter further, Deputy Prime Minister Kalyniak said he would ask Slovak prosecutors to open an investigation into the previous government’s transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets and 2K12 KuB anti-aircraft missile systems in 2023. He claims that then-Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Nad “weakened” the Slovak military.
Nad said he supported the decision to support the Ukrainian military with Soviet-designed fighter jets and air defense systems.
“Slovakia transferred the same type of equipment that many other countries, including Poland, transferred, but we have not heard of the new Polish government accusing the previous government of supporting Ukraine,” he said.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, is a populist leader. He campaigned on a pro-Moscow platform.has led the country’s government since October last year. During the election campaign, one of the politician’s main slogans was “not a single shot” at neighboring Ukraine, and Fico vowed to end his country’s military aid to Kiev. On May 15, he was shot and seriously wounded in a politically motivated assassination attempt. Since being released from a hospital in central Slovakia in late May, Fico has gradually resumed public activities.
Jaroslaw Adamowski is Defence News’ Poland correspondent.
