The Czech Republic is planning to buy additional UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper helicopters for its military because the country’s existing fleet is “insufficient,” according to Defense Minister Jana Černochová.
“At the Ministry of Defence, we have all the prerequisites to catch up in terms of defense spending as soon as possible,” Černochová was quoted in a statement released by the ministry. The minister was referring to plans by Prague to increase its military expenditure to 2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in line with its commitment to NATO.
defense-blog.com
During her recent meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Černochová discussed the ministry’s interest in purchasing additional helicopters made by Bell Helicopters “because it turns out the 12 machines that the Czech military will receive next year are insufficient due to the current situation”, according to the statement.
The number of the copters that the Czech Republic aims to acquire was not disclosed. However, local industry observers expect Prague to purchase a further 12 helos on top of its first order.
In 2019, the Czech government decided to buy eight UH-1Y Venom and four AH-1Z Viper military helicopters for 14.5 billion crowns ($622 million) from U.S. maker Bell Helicopter, Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar said he expected to delivery was expected in 2023.
The UH-1Y Venom is a multipurpose helicopter designed for the US Marine Corps. The machine was created on the basis of the Bell UH-1N Huey helicopter — such helicopters were in service with the US Marines for more than forty years and were officially decommissioned in 2014. Because of the letter «Y» in the name, the new helicopter received the unofficial name Yankee. The UH-1Y Venom is developed and manufactured by Bell Helicopter. The first flight of the machine took place in 2001, and the helicopter entered service with the US Marine Corps in 2008. Its standard weapons are launchers for guided (APKWS) and unguided (Hydra 70) 70 mm rockets (7- and 19-charge units), as well as an M134 suspended multi-barreled machine gun.
The AH-1Z Viper was developed by Bell Helicopter Corporation and has been in service with the US Marine Corps since 2010. It can reach speeds of up to 296 km / h, and its combat radius is 231 km. The helicopter is armed with a 20-mm triple-barreled cannon with 750 rounds of ammunition, and also has six pylons for guided and unguided Hydra 70, AIM-9 Sidewinder, AGM-114 Hellfire and other weapons.
