Czech Republic weighs upping its order of Bell-made Venom, Viper helicopters

WARSAW, Poland — The Czech Republic is planning to buy additional UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper helicopters for its military, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated 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.

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” in Ukraine, 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 helos with related gear and services under a deal worth about 14.5 billion koruna (US $645 million).

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——捷克国防部长雅娜·切尔诺霍娃表示，由于俄罗斯入侵乌克兰表明捷克现有的直升机机队“不足”，捷克共和国计划为其军队购买更多的UH-1Y“毒液”和AH-1Z“蝰蛇”直升机。

国防部发布的一份声明援引切尔诺霍娃的话说：“国防部已具备所有必要条件，可以尽快在国防开支方面迎头赶上。”这位部长指的是布拉格方面计划将军费开支提高到国内生产总值的2%，以履行其对北约的承诺。

据声明称，切尔诺霍娃在最近与美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀的会晤中，讨论了捷克国防部有意购买贝尔直升机公司生产的更多直升机，“因为事实证明，由于乌克兰目前的局势，捷克军方明年将接收的 12 架直升机是不够的”。

捷克共和国计划采购的直升机数量并未透露。不过，当地业内人士预计，布拉格将在首批订单的基础上再增购12架直升机。

2019 年，捷克政府决定购买 8 架 UH-1Y 毒液直升机和 4 架 AH-1Z 蝰蛇直升机以及相关设备和服务，交易金额约为 145 亿克朗（6.45 亿美元）。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。