The United States announced on Friday August 19 that it would donate eight combat and multirole helicopters to the Czech Republic, a member of NATO.
The Czech Republic has been a major supplier of military equipment to Ukraine since the February 24 Russian invasion.
Replace obsolete Russian models
The six AH-1Z combat helicopters and two UH-1Y multirole helicopters will be offered under the Excess Defense Articles program, the US Embassy in Prague said. “The Czech Republic will only pay for upgrading and transporting equipment“, specified the embassy of the United States on Twitter.
In 2019, Prague announced the purchase of eight UH-1Y and four AH-1Z helicopters made by Texas-based Bell Corporation to replace obsolete Russian-made Mi-35/24s. The 20 helicopters are expected to arrive next year. Russian helicopters are the legacy of four decades of communist rule – until 1989 – in the former Czechoslovakia.
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The Czech Republic broke away from Slovakia in 1993 and joined NATO in 1999. Since then, it has been modernizing its obsolete Soviet-era military equipment to bring it up to NATO standards.
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