Por ayudar a Ucrania, Eslovaquia recibe AH-1Z y Hellfires

Eslovaquia recibe 12 AH-1Z ex-USMC

En marzo, Eslovaquia acordó enviar sus 13 cazas MiG-29 a Ucrania. Eslovaquia ahora es miembro de la OTAN, ya no usa MiG-29 y los reemplazó con F-16. En agradecimiento, Estados Unidos ofreció a Eslovaquia doce helicópteros artillados AH-1Z y 500 misiles Hellfire por un valor aproximado de mil millones de dólares. Estados Unidos y la OTAN cubrirán la mayor parte de este costo y toda Eslovaquia, que no tiene helicópteros artillados, tendrá que pagar unos 300 millones de dólares. El AH-1Z es un modelo económico de cañonera popular en comparación con el AH-64 de 11 toneladas.

El AH-1Z se creó mediante la refabricación de helicópteros de ataque AH-1T/W más antiguos en modelos AH-1Z. Esto produce un helicóptero con un fuselaje de 10,000 horas (en el aire), nuevos motores, nueva electrónica y una cañonera actualizada y mucho más efectiva. Ha habido algunos problemas con el sistema de control de incendios, que es, cuando funciona, similar al que tienen los últimos AH-64, lo que provocó algunos retrasos. Sin embargo, los marines pudieron ponerse al día y el AH-1Z mantuvo su entrada en servicio programada para 2015. Los marines recibieron el último de sus 189 AH-1Z a fines de 2022. Esto incluyó 131 AH-1W remanufacturados y 58 AH-1Z fabricados nuevos.

El AH-1W de siete toneladas fue una actualización del AH-1 de la era de Vietnam. El AH-1W estaba configurado para uso naval y tenía dos motores y protección contra la corrosión del agua de mar. La mayoría de estos aviones se fabricaron originalmente en la década de 1970, con unos 44 modelos AH-1W construidos en la década de 1980. El objetivo del programa AH-1Z no era solo entregar un avión mucho más capaz, sino también tener un 84 por ciento de piezas en común con el helicóptero de transporte UH-1 actualizado que usan los Marines, reduciendo así significativamente los costos de mantenimiento. En todo el mundo, todavía hay muchos UH-1 en uso porque son baratos de comprar y operar mientras hacen el trabajo. El AH-1 es básicamente una versión de helicóptero de combate del UH-1 y el primer helicóptero de combate moderno con el piloto sentado detrás del oficial de armas y ambos protegidos por una armadura liviana.

La actualización del modelo AH-1Z utiliza un nuevo sistema de rotor compuesto de 4 palas, transmisión, componentes estructurales reforzados y aviónica de cabina digital moderna. El AH-1Z de 8 toneladas está armado con una pistola Gatling de 20 mm y tres cañones (y 750 rondas) y ocho misiles Hellfire. También puede transportar dos misiles aire-aire Sidewinder. El AH-1Z puede operar las 24 horas del día, en todo tipo de clima. Las salidas duran unas dos horas cada una y la velocidad de crucero es de 248 kilómetros por hora.


Strategy Page

Hasta Eslovaquia compra F-16s

Slovakia buys 14 F-16s by Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corp., doing business as Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $799,955,939 firm-fixed-price incentive contract for F-16 aircraft production.


F-16 Fighting Falcon (Picture source: US Air Force)

This contract provides for the production and support of 14 Slovak Republic F-16 block 70 aircraft. Work will be performed at Greenville, South Carolina, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2024. This contract award involves 100% foreign military sales to the Slovak Republic.

The F-16 Block 70/72 combines capability upgrades, most notably the advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar with a new avionics architecture, and structural upgrades to extend the structural life of the aircraft by more than 50 percent beyond that of previous production F-16 aircraft. F-16 Block 70 software takes advantage of technologies not available when earlier Block F-16s were developed and produced. Operational capabilities are enhanced through an advanced datalink, targeting pod and weapons; precision GPS navigation and the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS).

Eslovaquia adquiere 25 SPH Zuzana 2

Slovakia approves purchase of 25 Zuzana 2 155mm self-propelled howitzers

Army Recognition


According to the Czech news website E15 Expres, the Slovak government has approved the purchase of 25 Zuzana 2 155mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers developed by the Company by KONŠTRUKTA-Defence and produced by ZTS – ŠPECIÁL, for a total amount of €175 million.


Zuzana 2 155mm wheeled self-propelled howitzer at IDEB defense exhibition in Slovakia, May 2014. (Picture source Army Recognition)

The first delivery of the Zuzana 2 155mm self-propelled howitzer to Slovak Army is planned to start this year and will be finished for 2022.

In April 2018, it was announced that Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic are planning to get 25 Zuzana 2 155 mm self-propelled howitzers (SPH) based on the Cold War-era Dana SPH, according to a statement published by the country's Ministry of Defense (MoD). According to the Military Balance 2018 analytical book published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the Slovak Army currently operates three vz.1977 Dana and 16 M-2000 (Zuzana-1) SPHs (Self Propelled Howitzer).

The Dana also known as the Samohybná Kanónová Húfnica vzor 77 (ShKH vz. 77), is a 152mm 8x8 self-propelled howitzer that was developed in the late 1970s to respond to a request for the Czech army for a new mobile artillery system. This artillery system is also in service with Czech Republic, Slovakia, Georgia, Poland and Libya.

The Zuzana 2 is a modernized version of the Zuzana which was armed with one 155 mm 45 caliber main gun capable of firing all Western types of 155 mm ammunition. In May 2014, the latest version of the Zuzana 2 was presented by the Slovak Defense Company Konstrukta Defence during IDEB defense exhibition in Slovakia.

The Zuzana 2 is armed with a new 155 mm 52 caliber gun able to fire all modern NATO ammunition at a maximum firing range of 41 km with ERFB-BB very long range artillery projectile. It features thermal weapon sight and night vision and onboard fire control system (FCS) to enable easy operation with digital maps. It has also inertial navigation system (INS), a muzzle velocity radar and electronic equipment for providing target information.

Eslovaquia se acerca a Filipinas por cooperación militar

Slovakia Eyes Defense Cooperation with Philippines

RM-70 Modular MLRS made in Slovakia 

The Slovak Republic on Monday said it is eyeing defense cooperation with Manila that will enable them to provide training, firearms and other defense equipment to the Philippines.

Visiting Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said his government can offer defense “expertise, technologies and devices” that can be of use to the Philippine military, which is in the process of modernizing its aging equipment and armaments.

“Defense is one of the areas where we could cooperate,” Lajcak said after a bilateral meeting with Philippine counterpart Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario. “Slovakia has its expertise and we have some technologies.”

The Philippines, whose military is perceived to be among the weakest in the region, is currently scrambling to acquire ships, planes, satellites and coastal defense equipment mainly from the United States and also from other countries amid renewed territorial conflict in the South China Sea.

Manila and Beijing are locked in a long-running territorial dispute in the resource-rich waters, a cluster of islands shoals, reefs, and coral outcrops, where Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan also have competing claims.

The Philippine government accused China of infringing on its territory, harassing its fishermen, constructing artificial islands and sabotaging oil exploration. China, which claims the sea nearly in its entirety, insisted that all it actions are legal and undertaken within the scope of its sovereignty.

Defense cooperation

“With regard to defense cooperation, we see a potential,” Lajcak said. “We are suggesting that our experts get together, experts from the Department of Defense to come to Slovakia to identify the possibilities.”

Apart from arms and ammunitions, Lajcak said Slovakia can provide the Philippines with what it needs from training, development of facilities to technology on de-mining.

Del Rosario welcomed the Slovak government’s offer, but said there are no specific talks yet on the acquisition of defense artillery from the European state, which has a flourishing defense industry.

“We do have our modernization program so that’s a possibility. We are also looking at the possibility of training,” Del Rosario said.

In their meeting, the two officials signed a joint plan of action – a partnership framework, which, Del Rosario said, would serve as a “roadmap on trade and investments, renewable energy, mutual consular concerns, cultural and educational exchanges, people to people ties and multilateral cooperation.”

Productive meeting

“We had a very productive meeting where we welcomed new avenues of cooperation,” he said. “The revitalization of bilateral trade is a mutual priority between our two countries.”

Lajcak admitted that bilateral cooperation between the Philippines and Slovakia is underdeveloped, but stressed that “there is always a good potential in our relations.”

“Slovakia has many things to offer. We are small, but very dynamic country in the very heart of Europe,” he said. “I see potential in infrastructure, agriculture, and energy generation and transmission.”

Del Rosario and Lajcak also said they discussed major regional and international issues, including the South China Sea.

Both officials expressed the same view that the territorial disputes must be resolved peacefully in accordance to the rule of law – a position long held by the Philippines.

GMA