Slovakia receives three U.S.-made F-16 fighters

BRATISLAVA, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Slovakia received three U.S.-made F-16 fighters on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the delivery was postponed due to weather conditions.

The new fighters for the Slovak Armed Forces landed at the military airport in Kuchyna in western Slovakia's Bratislava region, local media STVR reported.

Originally, they were supposed to land on Dec. 18. In total, Slovakia currently has ten of the 14 F-16 C/D Block 70 fighters that the country ordered from the United States.

The airspace of Slovakia continued to be protected by Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Slovakia is expected to take over its own airspace protection in the middle of next year. Slovak Defence Minister Robert Kalinak said on Tuesday that he would like this to happen by the end of summer 2026.

At the end of 2018, Slovakia signed a contract for 14 F-16 C/D Block 70 fighters. Due to a delayed delivery during the pandemic, the first aircraft arrived at the military airbase in Kuchyna in the summer of 2024.

The American arms company Lockheed Martin recently announced that it has completed the production of all F-16 Block 70 fighters for Slovakia and Bulgaria. Enditem