The U.S. State Department has approved a potential Foreign Military Sale to Slovakia involving AH-1Z attack helicopters and related equipment, valued at approximately $600 million.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency has delivered the required certification to Congress.
According to the State Department, “The Government of Slovakia has requested to buy twelve (12) AH-1Z attack helicopters; twenty-six (26) T-700 GE 401C engines (24 installed, 2 spares); one thousand six hundred eighty (1,680) Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS), WGU-59/B; and fourteen (14) Honeywell embedded global positioning systems (GPS)/inertial navigation systems (INS) (EGIs) (12 installed, 2 spares).”
Additionally, the sale will include a variety of non-MDE items such as “support and test equipment; aircraft; weapons and munitions; countermeasures; integration and test support; spare and repair parts; communications equipment; mission planning; software delivery and support; Helmet Mounted Display System/Optimized TopOwl, Target Sight Systems and containers; technical refresh mission computers; ANVIS-9 night vision cueing displays; AN/ARC-210 Generation 6 receiver-transmitter 2036 radio equipment; AN/APX-123A identification friend or foe (IFF) Mode 5 mounting trays and batteries; cartridge actuated devices/propellant actuated devices (CAD/PADs); facilities and construction support; transportation; publications and technical documentation; personnel training and training equipment.”
This proposed sale aims to bolster Slovakia’s defence capabilities enhancing its ability to respond to current and future threats. The State Department noted, “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe.”
The State Department further elaborated that the sale would “improve Slovakia’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing the Slovak Air Force with aircraft to meet its national defence needs. Slovakia will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”
The principal contractors will be Bell Textron, based in Fort Worth, Texas, and the General Electric Company, located in Lynn, Massachusetts. The notification specified, “There are no known offset agreements in connection with this potential sale.”
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Fico and Putin will be pleased
I had the chance to top Fico when he was having coffee with a charming young thing opposite the Central Bank of Slovakia in ’02 ish in Banska Bystrica; if I’d known then, what I know now, doing time for doing him would have been my gift to man kind.