HN: CASA planes used in transportation of foreign troops

Prague, March 5 (CTK) - The Czech military CASA transport planes have started earning money for the military by carrying foreign troops within the ATARES international project, the financial daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) writes Tuesday.

The Czech military has mostly had only problems with its CASA aircraft as it was forced to ground them over repeated defects and could not use them even for foreign missions, HN writes.

However, it has started offering the planes to its allies, thanks to which it can earn at least some money, it adds.

Besides, the military has gained the opportunity to train Czech fighter pilots in-flight refuelling, which it cannot afford from its current budget, HN writes.

The Czech Republic has joined the ATARES (Air Transport, Air-to-Air Refuelling and other Exchanges of Services) project whose participants can loan their aircraft and borrow the ones they do not have.

"We are in situation where we must cut the costs. This is a road in the right direction," chief of staff Petr Pavel is quoted as saying.

Czechs have offered their CASA planes to the project. They have already gained the first order: three weeks ago they flew Hungarian troops to Kosovo and back, HN writes.

For this, the military has gained an opportunity to lease a plane it needs from other participants, it adds.

It has decided to ask for a refuelling plane in which Czech pilots of Gripen fighters can train in-flight refuelling.

"Thanks to the transport of the Hungarian soldiers, we can use the refuelling plane of the British and Dutch air forces for several hours," Ludek Hradecky, a general staff logistics officer in charge of the project is quoted as saying.

Although Czechs leased the Gripens including in-flight refuelling equipment years ago, their pilots cannot use it because they have not learnt the difficult in-flight refuelling manoeuvres.

Thanks to the transport of the Hungarians, the handicap can be eliminated now, HN writes.

The CASAs serviced the Hungarian military for 12 hours. The flights cost 840,000 crowns paid by the Czech state, it adds.

During the same time, Czech fighter pilots will be able to use a big refuelling plane. In normal circumstances, its loan is much more expensive as 12 hours of flights cost almost 10 million crowns, HN writes.

The Czech offer was advantageous for Hungary thanks to the Czech Republic's geographic position. It is one of the factors for which Hungary preferred the Czech offer to that offered by Lithuania, it adds.

The Czech air force has gained another two bids, HN writes.

"We have an offer to ensure a transport flight for the Slovenian military and another flight for Hungary in June," Hradecky said.

The purchase of three CASA C-295 planes for 3.5 billion crowns and the swap of five Czech-made L-159 subsonic fighters for the fourth CASA were approved by the Czech government in 2009.

According to earlier media reports, the acquisition of the CASAs was suspicious and the contract was probably overpriced. Senior ministry officials allegedly pushed the contract through against the will of military commanders.

Former defence minister Vlasta Parkanova and her deputy Jiri Stanek are prosecuted over the CASA deal.