Slovakia’s F-16 top-up plans reopen political battles over Ukraine aid

WARSAW, Poland — Slovakia’s Ministry of Defence is eying the purchase of four F-16 fighter jets on top of the 14 aircraft already ordered, a move meant to compensate for Bratislava’s decision to scrap the purchase of 12 Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helos with AGM-114 Hellfire II air-to-ground missiles.

Last January, Lockheed Martin announced the first two of the 14 purchased F-16 fighters were delivered to Slovakia, with more jets expected to leave production lines until the end of this year. But even before the 2018 aircraft contract, valued at around $800 million, is completed, the Slovak Cabinet could place an additional order for a further four jets, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák.

“Of the 14 fighters that we will have, three to four should be deployed 24 hours a day for the NATINADS system, which also significantly reduces the number of aircraft that can be used to fly,” he told local daily Pravda in an interview, referring to the NATO Integrated Air Defense System. “All these arguments together resulted in us opening new negotiations regarding the upgrade of our aircraft and adding four more to the fourteen.”

Local observers say the planned purchase could be partly animated by the government’s reluctance to pursue a helicopter acquisition initiated by the previous Cabinet which was ousted in October 2023.

Jaroslav Naď, the chairman of the Demokrati (Democrats) party and Slovakia’s former defense minister, told Defense News the government may be using the F-16 top-up to appease the United States and manufacturer Bell for scrapping the previous Viper deal.

“We need to acquire new helicopters for the Slovak military, and the additional purchase of aircraft is not going to cover this need,” Naď said. “It is also likely to cost much more than the approximately $340 million that Slovakia would spend on those helicopters,” he added. “The actual value of the Vipers and weapons is around $1 billion, so Slovakia was offered a huge discount. But now, if the government drops this deal, we could lose the opportunity to gain a modern helicopter fleet at such a price.”

Naď called the new talk of F-16s “quite surprising” because the country’s air force never requested additional planes during his tenure. “In the end, politicians should buy for the military what it needs, and not what they personally want,” he said.

Kaliňák, who is part of a far-right right government critical of Ukraine aid, has criticized the Viper offer as “disadvantageous” to Slovakia. He has also decried the previous Cabinet’s decision to donate 13 outdated Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, alongside other weapons, to support the country’s defense against Russia’s ongoing invasion.

“The Slovak Defence Ministry has put the MiG-29s donated by the previous government without any existing legal analysis of such decision in the spotlight,” the Slovak ministry said in a statement last month. The result of an “internal investigation” was that there was no authority to dispose of the MiG-29 fleet, the statement reads.

Kaliňák said he will take issue up a notch, requesting Slovak prosecutors to launch an investigation into the 2023 transfer of MiG-29s and 2K12 Kub anti-aircraft missile systems by the previous government. The deputy prime minister claims then-Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Naď “weakened” Slovakia’s military.

Naď said he stands by the decision to support the Ukrainian military with Soviet-designed fighter jets and air defense systems.

“Slovakia transferred the same type of equipment that was transferred by many other countries, for instance Poland, but you don’t hear about the new Polish government blaming the previous government for supporting Ukraine,” he said.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, a populist leader who campaigned on a pro-Moscow platform , has led the country’s government since last October. During his electoral campaign, one of the politician’s main slogans was “Not a single round” for neighboring Ukraine, with Fico vowing he will end his nation’s military aid to Kyiv. On May 15, the prime minister was shot and gravely wounded in a politically-driven assassination attempt. Since his release from a hospital in central Slovakia in late May, Fico has gradually resumed his public activities.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——斯洛伐克国防部正考虑在已订购的 14 架 F-16 战斗机之外，再购买 4 架。此举旨在弥补布拉迪斯拉发取消购买 12 架配备 AGM-114 地狱火 II 空地导弹的贝尔 AH-1Z 蝰蛇攻击直升机的决定。

去年1月，洛克希德·马丁公司宣布，斯洛伐克已收到其购买的14架F-16战斗机中的前两架，预计今年年底前还将有更多战机下线。但据斯洛伐克副总理兼国防部长罗伯特·卡利尼亚克透露，即便在价值约8亿美元的2018年飞机合同完成之前，斯洛伐克内阁仍有可能追加订购四架战机。

“在我们拥有的14架战斗机中，有3到4架需要24小时部署到北约一体化防空系统（NATINADS）中，这也大大减少了可用于执行任务的飞机数量，”他在接受当地日报《真理报》采访时表示。“所有这些因素最终促使我们重启了关于飞机升级和增加4架的谈判。”

当地观察人士表示，此次采购计划的部分原因可能是政府不愿继续推进上届内阁（已于 2023 年 10 月被解散）发起的直升机采购计划。

斯洛伐克民主党主席、前国防部长雅罗斯拉夫·纳德告诉《防务新闻》，政府可能正在利用 F-16 的增购来安抚美国和制造商贝尔公司，以弥补他们取消之前蝰蛇战斗机交易的过失。

“我们需要为斯洛伐克军队采购新型直升机，而额外购买飞机并不能满足这一需求，”纳德说道。“而且，这笔费用很可能远远超过斯洛伐克为这些直升机支付的约3.4亿美元，”他补充道。“蝰蛇战机和武器的实际价值约为10亿美元，因此斯洛伐克当时获得了巨大的折扣。但现在，如果政府放弃这笔交易，我们可能会失去以如此低的价格获得一支现代化直升机队的机会。”

纳德称有关F-16战机的讨论“相当令人惊讶”，因为在他任职期间，该国空军从未提出过增购战机的要求。“归根结底，政治家应该为军队购买他们真正需要的东西，而不是他们个人想要的东西，”他说。

卡利尼亚克是极右翼政府成员，该政府一直批评对乌克兰的援助。他批评俄罗斯向乌克兰提供“蝰蛇”战斗机的提议对斯洛伐克“不利”。他还谴责上届内阁决定向乌克兰捐赠13架老旧的米格-29战斗机以及其他武器，以支持乌克兰抵御俄罗斯的持续入侵。

斯洛伐克国防部上个月在一份声明中表示：“斯洛伐克国防部在没有任何法律依据的情况下，将前政府捐赠的米格-29战斗机置于聚光灯下。”声明称，一项“内部调查”的结果是，没有权力处置这批米格-29战斗机。

卡利尼亚克表示，他将把此事升级，要求斯洛伐克检察官对前政府于2023年向斯洛伐克移交米格-29战斗机和2K12“库布”防空导弹系统一事展开调查。这位副总理声称，时任总理爱德华·黑格尔和纳德“削弱”了斯洛伐克的军事力量。

纳德表示，他坚持向乌克兰军队提供苏联设计的战斗机和防空系统的决定。

他说：“斯洛伐克移交了与许多其他国家（例如波兰）移交的同类型设备，但你不会听到波兰新政府指责前政府支持乌克兰。”

斯洛伐克总理罗伯特·菲佐是一位民粹主义领导人，他以亲莫斯科的纲领竞选，自去年10月以来一直领导着斯洛伐克政府。在竞选期间，菲佐的主要口号之一是“一发子弹都不给”邻国乌克兰，他誓言要终止斯洛伐克对基辅的军事援助。5月15日，菲佐总理在一次出于政治动机的暗杀未遂事件中遭到枪击，身负重伤。自5月下旬从斯洛伐克中部一家医院出院以来，菲佐已逐步恢复了公共活动。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。