Czech Gripens Have Astonishing Operational Debut

Posted on: Nov. 28th, 2005 || Source: defencetalk.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

The Czech Air Force took delivery of its first Gripens in April 2005 and declared them operational on 1 July. Since then, the aircrafts’ in-service record has been phenomenal.

The Czech Air Force now has a fully operational force of 14 Gripen fighters. The first six aircraft were formally accepted into service on 26 April 2005 and, by the end of August, all the remaining Gripens had been delivered.

By May 2005 the first team of eight fully-trained Czech Gripen pilots was flying regular missions. On 1 July Gripen was declared as fully operational and available for NATO air defense taskings by the Czech Air Force. This sees the Gripens standing ready on quick reaction alert (QRA), prepared to scramble and intercept any unidentified aircraft in their area of responsibility.

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