The US State Department has approved the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to the Czech Republic, the US Defense Security Co-operation Agency announced on 29 June 2023.
The sale, which covers 24 F-35A conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variants as well as munitions and other related equipment, is valued at up to USD 5.62 Bn (EUR 5.15 Bn) and has been passed to the US Congress for final approval.
The Czech Republic selected the F-35 in July last year to replace the 14 leased Saab Gripen C/Ds currently operated by the Czech Air Force, the lease on which expires at the end of 2027. Prague had also considered Gripen Es and Eurofighter Typhoons to replace its leased aircraft.
As well as 24 F-35As and 25 Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines (ie one spare); the proposed sale to the Czech Republic includes 70 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles; 86 GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb – Increment II (SDB-II) StormBreaker all-up-rounds; 12 Mk-84 general purpose 2,000-lb bombs or BLU-109 2,000-lb penetrator bombs for the GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit; 12 KMU-556/KMU-557 JDAM tail kits; 50 AIM-9X Block II/II+ Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles; plus associated spares and training systems for the munitions listed.
The wider contract also includes extensive engineering, technical, maintenance, logistics and programme support.
The principal contractors for the deal will be Lockheed Martin as the F-35 manufacturer as well as Boeing and Raytheon Missiles and Defense as the producers of the munitions.
Peter Felstead
