Kalinak Visits Czech Defence Companies, Shows Interest in Several Products (2)

Bratislava/Pardubice, April 8 (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia is interested in several products manufactured by Czech defence firms, including L-39 Skyfox aircraft, target-tracking technologies produced by ERA or the training of pilots in a new LOM Pardubice virtual simulation centre, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) confirmed during his Tuesday's trip to the Czech Republic, after he visited several firms together with Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova. TASR learnt the news from its special correspondent. According to Kalinak, Slovakia needs to bolster its capability to "know and see", to which end target-tracking and target-recognition technologies produced by Pardubice-based ERA could be useful. "The conflict on the other side of our border has shown unequivocally that the side with superior information about enemy unit movements in the field has the advantage of fewer losses and much stronger defence," explained the minister. Kalinak praised the LOM Pardubice new training centre, where Slovak pilots could gain experience in the future. Another advantage of the virtual simulation centre is that pilots flying four or eight aircraft can train together. "That makes it very interesting for our pilots, who could train several scenarios that are just not possible on regular flights. We look forward to see our pilots use these services. It's only a stone's throw away and the language barrier is zero," he claimed. As for subsonic light combat aircraft L-39 Skyfox, manufactured by Aero Vodochody, Kalinak detailed that the 2025-35 Slovak Armed Forces Development Plans includes the procurement of 10-12 Skyfoxes for tactical training purposes. Cernochova pointed out that the Czech Republic and Slovakia have recently concluded a memorandum on cooperation in defence industry and Kalinak's visit on Tuesday was part of that initiative. She claimed that the Slovak minister received a comprehensive report on what the Czech Republic can offer Slovakia and also discussed were options Slovakia could provide. "The Czech Republic has an enormous interest in cooperation regarding the procurement of ammunition. Here, we confirmed that we're headed towards the signing of agreements, so that we can pull this off by the summer, or autumn at the very latest," stated Cernochova. mf