Prague, Dec 4 (CTK) – An international air training centre destined for Central European countries and Sweden could be created in the Czech Republic after 2018, air force commander Libor Stefanik said at a seminar staged by the Chamber of Deputies Saturday.
He said supersonic aircraft pilots could also be trained in the centre after some time.
“The development of the air forces directly depends on how we will be able to train our young generation,” Stefanik said.
He said young pilots fly stronger planes only after university studies. The youngest pilots of the Gripen supersonic aircraft, which the Czech military has leased from Sweden, are 33 years old, which is a big problem, not only because of age but also the money spent on their long training.
The situation could be changed by the building of the international training centre in which the Czech Republic could cooperate with Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Sweden.
It could use the latest training plane L-39NG that is being developed by the Aero Vodochody Czech firm. Students of the Brno-based Defence University could fly them, too, which would shorten their training, Stefanik said.
He said the Czechs propose that the centre have its seat in Pardubice, east Bohemia, where a tactical training centre operates. Training would be provided by the best instructors from the participating countries.
Twenty-five young pilots could be trained annually at the centre that would also retrain the pilots of older versions of the L-39 aircraft for planes of the new generaiotn, Stefanik said.
