Czechs and Poles will protect Slovakia’s airspace: What fate will befall our fighters? They are talking about Ukraine
Czech and Polish fighter jets have been protecting Slovak airspace since September. The MiG-29 fighter jets, which have formed the basis of the supersonic tactical aviation of the Slovak Republic since the creation of the Slovak Republic until now, have been grounded. TASR was informed about this by the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Defense (MO SR) Martina Kovaľščíková.
“In favor of the protection of the airspace of the Slovak Republic, MiGs have provided good service to our armed forces for many years. In total, our pilots flew with them for more than 20,240 hours while performing a number of training and operational tasks. However, there is no prospect of using Soviet-type technology in the future for the Slovak Republic,” stated Minister of Defense Jaroslav Naď (OĽANO).
As he explained, Soviet technology is not compatible with NATO allies and cannot be modernized, while its operability and combat capability is affected by low reliability. Maintaining the achieved level of competence while maintaining the current status has been described by Naď as very demanding in terms of personnel and economy in the long term.
The Czech Republic and Poland are supposed to protect Slovakia’s airspace until the end of 2023. With Gripen and F-16 fighters, they are temporarily fulfilling the capability that Slovakia will fully acquire again after the delivery of F-16 fighter jets from the USA.
As part of the division of Czechoslovakia, as well as the unblocking of Russian debt, 24 pieces of one- and two-digit MiGs were delivered to Slovakia in the 1990s. “The MiG-29 aircraft underwent a partial modernization between 2004 and 2006, when they were equipped with more advanced means of communication and navigation and systems compatible with NATO technology. The technical service life of the 11 MiG-29 aircraft currently in service with the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic ends in a few years 2029 to 2035,” the spokeswoman added.
A symbolic farewell to the MiG-29 fighters took place last weekend at the SIAF aviation days in the premises of Malacky Air Base – Kuchyňa. An airspace protection agreement with the Czech Republic and Poland was also signed at the same event.
The future of decommissioned fighters continues to be debated. The Minister of Defense did not rule out their provision to Ukraine, financial or material compensation is being negotiated.