![]() Prototype (6073) of the two-seat L-159B variant first flew on 1 June 2002. 10 April 2000 marked the first delivery of L-159A to the Czech Air Force. On 18 August 1998 the single-seat L-159A prototype (5832, "356 white") first flew it was completed to Czech customer specifications. The maiden flight of the first L-159 prototype (5831, "376 white") occurred on 2 August 1997 with a two-seat version. In October 2006, it was sold to Penta Investments. However, in October 2004, Boeing withdrew from the company and the government announced that the Aero Vodochody was to be privatised. Due to the cost of the project, the Czech government decided that a strategic partner, the Boeing Company, would be invited to join with the Aero Vodochody in the venture in May 1998. The number of aircraft to be delivered was based upon the size of the Czech Air Force at that time, taking into account the necessity to replace MiG-23BN and Su-22 fighter-bombers and Su-25 attack aircraft. ![]() In 1995, the Czech government ordered a fleet of 72 L-159A single-seat aircraft at a cost around 50 billion CZK. Ĭonducted between the years 19, the technical development of L-159 ALCA in Aero Vodochody consisted primarily of building one L-159 two-seat prototype based on the L-59 airframe utilizing western engine, avionics and weapon systems, with Rockwell Collins (eventually Boeing) as the avionics integrator. Since the proposed Aero L-X supersonic fighter development proved to be financially demanding (up to US$2 billion), the less costly L-159 subsonic attack aircraft was approved for procurement instead. In 1993 a group of Czech military experts launched a project of production of a modern domestic fighter to replace the obsolete Soviet aircraft. The resulting L-39MS, later designed as L-59 Super Albatros, featured a more powerful turbofan engine, advanced avionics, and has been bought in quantity by Egypt and Tunisia. Nevertheless, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Czech company Aero Vodochody continued developing the basic L-39 Albatros design with a view toward greater export. ![]() Immediately after the 1989 Velvet Revolution, the president of Czechoslovakia Václav Havel declared a demobilisation of the Czechoslovak defence industry. The first L-159 prototype (5831) in the Prague Aviation Museum. ![]()
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