On April 21, 2022, the Czech aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody Aerospace announced the conclusion of a contract for the supply of 12 new L-39NG combat training aircraft to the Hungarian armed forces. Of these aircraft, eight will be delivered in a training version, and four in a reconnaissance version, equipped with a ventral electron-optical system. The cost of the contract is not disclosed, but it is stated that the delivery of Hungarian aircraft will begin in 2024.
The second flight prototype of the new-built Aero Vodochody L-39NG combat training aircraft (tail number "0476", serial number 7004) during evaluation tests in the Hungarian Air Force, November 2020 (c) Aero Vodochody Aerospace
Recall that in 2020, the Aero Vodochody plant actually came under the control of the influential Hungarian oligarch András Tombor, who now owns 51% of the "parent" company AERO Investment Partners Zrt registered in Hungary. (another 49% of this company, through the Czech structure AERO International sro, will be transferred to the Czech defense industry group OMNIPOL, controlled by businessman Richard Havoy). Andras Tombor is closely associated with the current Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (and at one time was an adviser to the latter) and the ruling FIDESZ party, and, apparently, that is why the Hungarian government order for aircraft to the Aero Vodochody Aerospace plant was a foregone conclusion.
Aero Vodochody announced a program to create a substantially upgraded version of its well-known L-39 aircraft, designated L-39NG (Next Generation), in July 2014 at the Farnborough Air Show. The L-39NG is equipped with an American Williams International FJ44-4M engine with a maximum thrust of 1700 kg and with a digital control system (instead of the old Soviet AI-25TL), received a new lightweight wing made partly of composite materials, as well as a new digital avionics complex from Genesys Aerosystems, an indicator on the background of the windshield developed by the Czech company SPEEL Praha and modern onboard systems. The pilot's cabin is equipped with new ejection seats of class "0-0". The redesigned aircraft design should have a life of 15 thousand flight hours. The L-39NG will also be able to carry weapons on four underwing and one ventral suspension points.
The first prototype-demonstrator L-39NG (tail number "2626", serial number 332626) made its first flight on September 14, 2015, representing a modification of the L-39C aircraft owned by the plant, equipped with a Williams International FJ44-4M engine, a Genesys Aerosystems avionics system and an indicator on the background of the SPEEL Praha windshield. The old wing was retained, although instead of the traditional L-39 fuel tanks, new wingtips were installed at the end of the wing.
On December 22, 2018, the first flight of the first prototype of the new-built L-39NG (tail number "0475", serial number 7001) took place. On December 9, 2019, the second prototype of the new-built L-39NG took flight "in pre-production configuration" (tail number "0476", serial number 7004). In addition, two samples were made for ground testing (serial numbers 7002 and 7003).
It is assumed that both new-built L-39NG aircraft will be manufactured for customers, and the modernization of available L-39 aircraft will be carried out in this version.
Regarding the Hungarian order for L-39NG aircraft, Aero Vodochody President and CEO Viktor Sotona stated that "together with the Hungarian contract, Aero now has contracts for the production and supply of almost 30 new L-39NG aircraft, and due to further ongoing negotiations with customers, this number may increase by another dozen aircraft in the coming years several years."
Thus, in addition to the new contract for 12 L-39NG aircraft for Hungary, Aero Vodochody, as it can be judged, so far has only a contract concluded in February 2021 for the supply of 12 of these aircraft to Vietnam, and signed in December 2019 by the Prague aircraft repair plant LOM Prague, owned by the Czech Ministry of Defense, for the purchase of four aircraft L-39NG of new construction (with an option for two more) for the Pardubice Aviation Training Center for the training of Czech Air Force flight personnel.
Previously, formally, the first customer of the L-39NG was the Senegalese Air Force, which signed an agreement in April 2018 for the purchase of four new-built L-39NG, however, according to the latest data, Senegal eventually refused to purchase these aircraft. Apparently, the advertised agreements signed in July 2018 at the Farnborough Air Show with the American company RSW Aviation for the supply of 12 new-built L-39NG aircraft and the modernization of six old-made L-39 aircraft into the L-39CW variant, similar to the L-39NG, and with the Portuguese company SKYTECH (Defense Sky Technologies Lda, is actually a partner of the Australian military contracting company Adagold Aviation), for the supply of ten new-built L-39NG (with an option for another six).
