AFP, PRAGUE: Czech Defence Minister Miroslav Kostelka and his Swedish counterpart Leni Bjoerklund Monday signed a contract whereby the Czech Republic will lease 14 Swedish JAS-39 Gripen fighters for its air force.
The Gripens — 12 one-seater JAS-39 Cs and two two-seater training JAS-39Ds — will be leased for 10 years at a cost of 19.6 billion koruna (629 million euros, dollars), after which the fighters will be returned to Sweden.
The first planes will be delivered in spring 2005, gradually replacing the obsolete soviet MiG-21s, and will be based at the Caslav airforce base, 70 km east of Prague..
The deal also includes a multi-purpose simulator, a mission planning system, complete technical equipment for the jets and training for both pilots and ground personnel, which will begin this August.
Under terms of the agreement, Sweden is committed to investing 130 percent of the contract's value in so called “off-sets” in koruna in the Czech Republic, 20 percent of which will be direct investments into the Czech economy.
Both ministers signed a memorandum of understanding and two more detailed contracts on the lease were signed by their deputies, Jaroslav Kopriva and Jan-Olov Lind.
