PRAGUE (AFX) – The government has unanimously approved the contract and other documentation to buy 24 JAS-39 Gripen fighter planes, made jointly by Saab AB and BAe Systems PLC, said Milan Repka, a spokesman for the Minister of Defence.
The Chamber of Deputies will hold a final debate on the finance shortly. The first aircraft will be delivered in Oct 2004, Repka said.
The purchase price for the 24 unarmed planes will be 52.5 bln koruna (1.7 bln eur), he said. The offset programme proposed by Saab-BAe represents 150 pct of the purchase price.
The first squadron of 12 Gripen aeroplanes is likely to be operational from 2005-06.
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April 22, 2002 at 12:39 pm