The primary F-16 fighters landed in Slovakia

On Monday, the fighters first crossed the Kuchyňa base in Malacky, the place they are going to be primarily based for some time. Then they went ashore alone.

Then the firefighters created a “glory barrier” from the streams of water and the fighter jets flew by it. The departing American pilot flew the Slovakian flag and was applauded.

President Peter Pellagrini, Minister of Protection Robert Kaliňák and American Ambassador to Slovakia Gautam A. Rana welcomed the fighters on the sphere.

Slovakia has turn out to be the primary European nation to have the most recent model of the Combating Falcon. The only-seat mannequin marked C and the two-seat mannequin marked D had been utilized in the USA to coach Slovak technicians who supposed to take care of these machines earlier than they arrived in Slovakia.

“This coaching was important for Air Pressure personnel within the Slovak Republic to make sure the sleek and environment friendly integration of the F-16 plane squadron in Slovakia,” the Slovak Ministry of Protection mentioned in a written assertion. which was despatched to Novinká.

The primary two fighters crossed the Atlantic Ocean with a refueling airplane to refuel the plane. In line with Denník N, the machines had been piloted by Individuals and, resulting from worldwide laws, they’ve an American emblem for a while.

President Peter Pellegrini, Protection Minister Robert Kaliňák and Chief of Common Workers Daniel Zmeko personally attended the ceremonial arrival of the fighter jets at a army base close to the town of Malacca. It was Pellegrini who headed the cupboard that ordered American F-16 fighter jets on the finish of 2018. The primary machines had been alleged to arrive in 2022, however the supply was delayed.

Till 2022, the Slovak Air Pressure used Russian MiG-29 fighters, however after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they had been grounded, and the Slovaks introduced their MiGs to Kyiv final 12 months. Slovak airspace is quickly protected by Czech and Hungarian Gripens, Polish F-16s and German Eurofighters.

The F-16 fighters will likely be quickly primarily based on the Kuchyňa air base, because the Sliač airport in central Slovakia is being renovated. Michal Jerga from the Slovak Ministry of Finance estimates the price of rebuilding Sliač Airport at 55 million euros (1.4 billion crowns). In line with the minister, the reconstruction of the airport will take two or three years.