Disgusted Swedes cheated the Czech Republic on the price for renting gripens

“The current offer is not acceptable to us, but that does not mean that the negotiations are over. For us, Gripens are still the most preferred variant to protect the airspace until 2035, but we have to come to an agreement with the Swedes and they have to present a new offer,” Lubor Koudelka, the head of the armaments section of the Ministry of Defense, told journalists.

The lease of 14 aircraft ends in 2027, and the Ministry of Defense needs to extend it for another eight years – until all F-35 aircraft arrive in the Czech Republic.

The problem is that the Swedes demand that the Czech side pay for the fundamental modernization of the machines, which would make the annual lease significantly more expensive than the 1.7 billion kroner a year that the defense pays today.

Negotiations with Sweden have been ongoing for more than a year. Last year, when the government decided to buy 24 American F-35 fighter jets for 150 billion crowns, the Ministry of Defense said that the new leasing contract for Gripens will probably increase by 30 to 40 percent. But that turned out to be too optimistic an estimate. The defense does not want to comment on how much the rent should increase, but there is speculation that it will be more than double, i.e. 3.4 billion crowns per year.

At the end of August, Defense Minister Jana Černochová (ODS) held talks with her Swedish counterpart. And in the press release she stated that she is not satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations and that negotiations must continue. “We are responsible to the taxpayers and I want to be 100% sure that the conditions for the Czech Republic will be defensible both before the government, the opposition and the citizens,” said the minister.

Negotiations are not easy, because the Swedes have no reason to be generous. They blame the Czech Ministry of Defense not only for giving preference to American machines, but also for not allowing the Swedish gripen manufacturer, Saab, to present its offer of new machines.

This decision is criticized by the head of the Defense Committee and ex-Minister of Defense Lubomír Metnar (ANO). “The purchase of the F-35 turns out to be a problematic acquisition, which we will finance at the expense of other projects,” Metnar told Novinkám. He added that it is already clear that the army will not have enough money, for example, to buy modern Leopard 2A8 tanks.

The Ministry of Defense is aware that it is pulling the short end of the rope in negotiations with Sweden. And he tries to show that, if necessary, the Czech Republic could do without gripens. Last week, it signed an agreement with Slovakia that the Czech Air Force will patrol its airspace for another year, and that in the future it may be the other way around.

“The signed declaration confirms Slovakia’s willingness to help in the future with the protection of the airspace of the Czech Republic, should it be necessary for any reason,” said the Czech defense. The Slovaks bought F-16 fighters from the American government and sent their retired MiG-29s to Ukraine. When deliveries from the USA were delayed, the Slovaks negotiated with the allies to guard their skies.

According to aviation expert Tomáš Soušek, a similar scenario would mainly be a loss for the current management of the ministry. “Hypothetically, you can ask your neighbors for help, but it would be a failure that perhaps no one thinks about,” Soušek told Novinkám.

According to Novinek information, the Swedish manufacturer Saab argues that it is not possible for it to maintain service support both for modern machines of the Swedish and Hungarian armies, and especially for older versions of the Czech Air Force. It is essential that the Gripens are to receive a new radar, which significantly increases the capabilities of the fighter. “If we didn’t buy it, we wouldn’t save money, because the manufacturer would have to maintain the service support of older radars and he would certainly have to pay for it as well as the modernization,” added Soušek.