Iraq to buy Czech-made L-159 aircraft

Iraq has agreed to buy 28 Czech-made L-159 jet training aircraft for 19.2 billion crowns, or around one billion US dollars, a spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister told the Reuters news agency on Friday. Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki is in Prague on a working visit, heading a political and business delegation. Details of the deal have been agreed at a meeting of the Czech and Iraqi defence ministers. Four planes will be shipped to Iraq within seven months’ time while the remaining 24 aircraft will be newly produced and delivered in two years. The Iraqi contract is the first successful sale of the aircraft which the Czech government has been trying to sell for years.

Author: Jan Richter