US affords Slovakia a dozen new navy helicopters as compensation for supplying Ukraine with a fleet of jets

The US has supplied Slovakia 12 new navy helicopters as compensation for the MiG-29 fighter jets the European nation is giving to Ukraine, Slovakia’s protection minister stated Wednesday.

Beneath the provide, Slovakia would pay $340 million for the Bell AH-1Z assault choppers in a deal value about $1 billion that additionally consists of 500 AGM-114 Hellfire II missiles and coaching, Protection Minister Jaroslav Nad stated.

U.S. international navy financing would cowl the opposite $660 million, he stated. The European Union additionally would ship Slovakia $213 million in further compensation, Nad stated.

SLOVAKIA’S GOVERNMENT APPROVES PLAN TO SEND UKRAINE ITS FLEET OF 13 SOVIET-ERA MIG-29 FIGHTER JETS

The Slovak authorities nonetheless wants to simply accept the provide.

Nad stated his nation’s armed forces at present don’t have any fight helicopters and that the deal would “considerably improve the protection functionality of Slovakia.”

On Friday, the Slovak authorities permitted a plan to present Ukraine its fleet of 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, turning into the second NATO member nation to heed the Ukrainian authorities’s pleas for warplanes to assist defend in opposition to Russia’s invasion.

Slovakia grounded its MiGs in the summertime as a consequence of a scarcity of spare components and experience to assist keep them. Fellow NATO members Poland and the Czech Republic stepped in to watch Slovak air house.

Slovakia beforehand signed a deal to purchase 14 U.S. F-16 Block 70/72 fighter jets, however supply was pushed again two years with the primary plane to reach in early 2024.

This text was initially printed by foxnews.com. Learn the original article here.