Slovakia goes it alone with C-27J Spartan selection

The Slovak Ministry of Defence (MoD) has selected the Alenia Aeronautica C-27J Spartan to meet its transport aircraft requirement, the two parties announced on 19 December.

Negotiations concerning payments and associated offset accords are expected to begin soon, Alenia said. Slovakia said it is looking for offsets of 100 per cent of the contract value.

Selection of the C-27J as the preferred platform comes after the MoD announced a public tender on 8 August 2008 to replace its ageing Antonov An-24/26 aircraft. Bids were understood to have been submitted by the end of that month.

Bids from Lockheed Martin (believed to relate to the C-130J) and EADS CASA (C-295) were also understood to have been sought.

The number of platforms sought and the final value of the programme are not expected to be announced until negotiations are concluded, although an MoD spokesman previously indicated a budget of SKK2.5 billion (USD112 million) to SEK7.5 billion for the programme. Jane's believes that at least two aircraft will be required. The Slovak Air Force has a single An-24 in its inventory (one crashed in January 2006) and two An-26 units. 189 of 315 words