Slovakia Gets U.S. Nod to Acquire AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters

NATO member Slovakia has moved closer to acquiring an attack helicopter capability after the U.S. Department of State approved a deal to supply it with 12 Bell AH-1Zs.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this potential sale today.

The Government of Slovakia has requested to buy twelve AH-1Z attack helicopters, along with 26  T-700 GE 401C engines (24 installed, 2 spares), 1,680 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) rockets, WGU-59/B, and 14 Honeywell embedded global positioning systems (GPS)/inertial navigation systems (INS) (12 installed, 2 spares), as well as other related equipment and support. The estimated total cost of this deal is $600 million.

The principal contractors will be Bell Textron, located in Fort Worth, TX, and the General Electric Company, located in Lynn, MA.

According to Cirium fleets data, the Slovak air force’s current rotary-wing fleet includes 13 Mil Mi-17s and nine Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks.