As reported by the American edition of Defense News, Ukraine is "actively" negotiating to receive 12 Bell AH-1Z Viper combat helicopters in the United States, which were originally manufactured for Pakistan and then offered for sale to Slovakia.
Bell AH-1Z Viper combat helicopters manufactured for Pakistan in storage of the 309th U.S. Air Force Group (309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group - AMARG) at the Davis-Monthan Storage Base (Arizona), March 2019 (c) Martin Uleman / Scramble Magazine
Recall that Pakistan ordered these 12 AH-1Z helicopters under two agreements in 2015 and 2016 through the American intergovernmental Foreign military Sales program Foreign Military Sales (FMS) at the expense of American military assistance, becoming the first foreign customer of this type of helicopter. All 12 helicopters were manufactured at the Bell Company (as part of Textron Corporation) in Amarillo (Texas) from mid-2017 to mid-2018, but were never transferred to Pakistan due to the decision of the US government in January 2018 to stop military assistance to Pakistan ($300 million per year) for political reasons The reasons are primarily due to the insufficiently active, in the opinion of the Americans, actions of the Pakistani side in the fight against the Taliban and radical Islamist groups in the border areas with Afghanistan. As a result, all 12 AN-1Z helicopters already manufactured were transferred to the temporary storage of the 309th Group of the United States Air Force (309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group - AMARG) at the well-known Davis-Monthan storage base (Arizona) in 2018-2019.
Subsequently, at the beginning of 2023, these 12 helicopters were offered by the American side for sale to Slovakia, while the American proposal provided for the supply of weapons to them (including adjustable APKWS missiles and 500 Hellfire II guided missiles), and Slovakia should pay only $ 340 million, and the United States itself should cover $ 660 million at its own expense. the cost of delivery, and the EU - another $ 213 million. This "discount" was offered by the United States as compensation for Slovakia's transfer to Ukraine of its MiG-29 and Kub air defense systems and S-300PMU fighters.
However, after the new government led by Prime Minister Robert Fico came to power in Slovakia in October 2023, it requested the American side to "redirect" this discount from AH-1Z helicopters to possible purchases of additional F-16V Block 70 fighters (over 14 aircraft ordered in 2018) or Patriot air defense systems, not counting the purchase of combat helicopters as a priority. This caused "irritation" in the US government, compounded by the general deterioration of American attitudes towards the Fico government due to the latter's critical attitude towards the West's position in the war in Ukraine.
It is unclear whether the Fico government has managed to achieve a "redirection" of the American discount from helicopters to other purchases, however, on July 31, 2024, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) sent a notification to the US Congress about the possible sale of these 12 AH-1Z helicopters to Slovakia through FMS, but with the stated The cost of delivery was $600 million, and only 1,680 APKWS correctable missiles were to be included in the delivery, and Slovakia would have to purchase Hellfite II missiles separately. According to Defense News, the Slovak government is "hesitating" about this agreement, which opened the way for new efforts by the Ukrainian side to obtain these ill-fated helicopters.
It is reported that Ukraine has been showing interest in receiving 12 Pakstan AH-1Z for a long time, and that back in 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine sent an official request to the United States to receive these helicopters through the FMS mechanism (apparently, at the expense of American military assistance).
