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Czech Republic wants UH-1Y's


Slater

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It's an interesting development given that the Czech company LOM Praha holds licenses for deep maintenance, overhaul and modernisation of both "Hip" and "Hind" helicopters and serves an international client base.

 

They talk about NATO interoperability, but that's why the Czechs bought updated Mi-35 and Mi-171 helicopters factory fresh little more than a decade ago.

 

Not to wax political, but considering how the recent Czech parliamentary election went and how the upcoming presidential election in January could go; I wouldn't be surprised to see the deal change before all is said and done.

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This article from April of this year will give you some insights into the competition:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/business/enormous-deal-to-purchase-military-helicopters-in-offing-in-czech-republic

 

I'm quite surprised the Sikorsky Blackhawk wasn't a shoe-in for the new machine given how involved Aero Vodochody is with it:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/business/aero-vodochody-and-sikorsky-extend-black-hawk-contract

 

 

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  • 3 months later...

Just an update for those interested.

 

It looks like the new multi-role helicopter and several other Czech defense tenders have been put on hold by the new defense minister.

 

Going by this, she has good reasons for putting it on hold and sounds like the sort that might give things a good shake up:

 

http://radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/czech-defence-minister-battles-to-make-best-use-of-boosted-budget

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5 hours ago, junglierating said:

I reckon they just wanted a helicopter that is proven to work,easy to fix and maintain with good flying:downtime ratio...aint going to get that with AW

 

They already have both those things with the Mi-35 and Mi-171. However, I suspect NATO would prefer the Czechs divest themselves of the remaining Russian made gear regardless of its age or reliability.

 

As I said in an earlier post, I'm surprised the Sikorsky Blackhawk didn't get the nod for the job as Aero vodochody has been deeply involved in many aspects of that aircraft since 2010.

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Junglierating, I agree with you that maintenance costs of some parts of UH-1Y (rotor head, for example) are very low. However, Russian parts are cheaper to begin with and, with in house maintenance for Mil helicopter, most of the money remains at home. Also, Mi-17 is much roomier and has a higher lift capacity than UH-1Y. Cheers

Jure

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