The US government has offered Slovakia's armed forces 12 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters at a heavily discounted price in exchange for the MiG-29 fighter jets that Slovakia plans to hand over to Ukraine.
When the offer was announced on March 21, 2023, Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď said that the helicopters are new and that the offer includes a package of spare parts, training for flight and maintenance personnel, and a delivery of AGM-114 Hellfire II anti-tank guided missiles.
According to a March 22 report on the Slovak Ministry of Defense website, the value of the Viper package is just over USD 1 billion (EUR 0.92 billion), of which around USD 660 million was funded by the US government in the provided under the US Foreign Military Financing Program for Slovakia. According to the Slovakian Defense Ministry, Slovakia would have to pay around USD 340 million, which, according to the Slovakian Ministry of Defense, should be financed over a period of three to four years as part of the country's planned defense budget.
"This offer is really very advantageous and will significantly increase the defense potential of the Slovak Republic," Nad' was quoted as saying. "Currently, we don't have any gunships at all, so this would be an entirely new capability."
The Slovak Air Force used to have ten Mi-24V and five Mi-24D attack helicopters, but these were retired and put into storage in 2011.
The Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter is a further development of the AH-1W Super Cobra and has been in service with the US Marine Corps since February 2011. The AH-1Z is powered by twin General Electric T700-GE-401C turbocharged engines of 1,800 hp each and has a top speed of 370.4 km/h (200 kts), a maximum range of 574 km (310 n-miles), a combat radius of 242.6 km (131 n miles) and is manned by one pilot and one weapons systems officer. Armed with a 20mm rotary cannon in the bow turret, the AH-1Z also has six pylon stations on two stub wings, capable of carrying a total payload of 2,615 kg. This allows the helicopter to carry a mix of 70mm rockets, AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface guided missiles and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.
Other features of the AH-1Z include a four-blade rotor, glass cockpits for both crew members, and a third-generation target tracking system that Bell says offers "the longest range and highest accuracy of any helicopter sight in the world."
Slovakia announced that it would gift Ukraine its entire fleet of around a dozen retired MiG-29s on March 17, 2023, after Poland made a similar statement the previous day. Slovakia also undertook to deliver two mobile 2K12 Kub surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine.
Peter Felsted
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