Military withheld Gripen defect for two weeks

Military withheld Gripen defect for two weeks
(PDM staff with CTK) 9 June – The Czech Air Force withheld for a fortnight the information that it had to put one of its brand-new Gripen fighters out of service after its display had failed, Pravo reported yesterday.

Air Force commander Ladislav Minarik informed journalists of the defect on Tuesday.

Michal Prejzek, spokesman for the military air base in Caslav, central Bohemia, could see no reason why the Air Force should have announced the defect to the public two weeks ago.

“It did not thwart the training,” he told Pravo.

Prejzek did not comment on the nature of the defect, which Swedish experts have been trying to fix for two weeks.

Minarik said that both Czech officers and the Swedes were surprised when the display reacted in a non-standard way after the relevant computer was switched on.

“It is a new jet, therefore the Swedes have to look into [the defect],” Minarik said.

By no means did the defect threaten the pilot’s life. In war conditions, he would have naturally continued to complete his task, he emphasised.

According to Ulf Lindstroem from the Swedish Defence Ministry, the cause of the defect has already been identified and the Swedes are working on its removal.

The plane will be completely capable of operation in a few days, Lindstroem told Pravo.

The lease contract is prepared to deal with similar situations and binds the Swedes to immediately fix any defects.

“The Swedes offered a new plane to us. But we are not considering this, we’ll wait to see whether it is a system mistake,” Minarik said.

The Czech military has leased 14 Gripens for 10 years under a project approved last year by the former government of Vladimir Spidla.

The first six fighters arrived only a few weeks ago. Another eight will be supplied in the second half of the year. The Czech Republic will pay a total of CZK 20 billion for the aircraft.

The Gripens will start guarding Czech airspace in the second half of June.

Minarik said that other planes, for instance U.S. F-16 aircraft, also have problems from time to time.

(USD 1= CZK 24.486)

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