Our Northern Neighbor Receives New Fighter Jets

Two new General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons have arrived in Hungary’s northern neighbor, Slovakia. The fighter jets landed at the military airport in Kuchyňa (Konyha) on Monday evening, Hlavné správy reports.

Slovakia concluded a contract for 14 US-made F-16 Block 70 fighter jets at the end of 2018, but the delivery of the aircraft was delayed due to the pandemic. The third fighter should arrive in Slovakia by the end of this year.

The previous MiG-29 fighter jets were already reaching the end of their service life at the time of the F-16 purchase, and the offer of the aircraft from the US was the most advantageous, said Slovak President Peter Pellegrini at the ceremony held on the aircraft’s arrival.

The President called protecting the Slovak skies a matter of pride and a sign of sovereignty.

We are grateful that we could rely on the aircraft of our Czech, Hungarian and Polish friends in case of emergency,”

he said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Robert Kaliňák thanked the neighboring states for their assistance in protecting the Slovak airspace over the past two years.

Juraj Blanár, Slovakia’s Foreign Minister, also thanked neighboring states – the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland – for the airspace protection in a Facebook post:

As Hungary Today reported, in February last year, Slovakia has transferred its cold war era fleet of Mig-29 fighter jets to Ukraine free of charge. The decision, attacked by opposition parties as unconstitutional, has left the country without aircraft of its own. Although the first new F-16 aircraft have now been delivered, it will take at least a year for them to be fully integrated into the Slovak Air Force. Meanwhile, within the framework of a Visegrad 4 agreement on cooperation in the field of military aviation, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary are helping Slovakia with its air patrols extended until the end of 2025.

Via hlavnespravy.sk, Featured image: Facebook/Peter Pellegrini