The Czech Republic will modernize the JAS-39 Gripen fighters in its air force, Report informs via the CTK news agency.
The fighter jets will be updated based on the conclusion of an additional agreement with Sweden to the lease agreement. The document will be signed, according to the agency, in the first half of the year. The cost of the work will be 1.028 billion crowns (about $43.5 million).
The modernization will affect aircraft communications and identification systems. The capabilities of the weapons installed on them will be expanded. The fighters, according to the agency, will be capable of 24-hour in-flight refueling.
The Czech Air Force has 14 Gripens. The fighters were leased from Sweden in 2005. The term expires in 2027. The annual rent is approximately 1.7 billion kroner (about $75 million).
Prague, as Czech media reported earlier, is negotiating with Stockholm to extend the lease of the squadron until 2035, when 24 American F-35 fighters will replace Swedish aircraft in the Czech Air Force. Their purchase in September 2023 was approved by the Czech government.