Aero L-159 Alca

L-159 ALCA
Czech Air Force L-159A ALCA
Role	Light attack / advanced trainer
Manufacturer	Aero Vodochody
First flight	4 August 1997
Introduction	April 2000
Status	Operational
Primary user	Czech Air Force, Iraqi Air Force
Produced	1997–present
Number built	L-159A: 72
Unit cost	US$9.5 million (2015) US$13 million (2003) US$15–17 million
Developed from	Aero L-59 Super Albatros

The Aero L-159 ALCA is a light subsonic attack jet and advanced trainer developed in the single-seat L-159A and two-seat L-159B versions respectively, produced in the Czech Republic by Aero Vodochody. In 2003, the Czech Air Force elected to reduce its own fleet of 72 L-159A aircraft to 24 and has re-sold most of the redundant aircraft to both military and civilian operators, namely the Iraqi Air Force and Draken International. Since 2007, several L-159A aircraft have been rebuilt into T1/T2 trainer derivatives. The L-159 has seen active combat use by the Iraqi Air Force against ISIS.

Immediately after the 1989 Velvet Revolution, the Czech president Václav Havel declared a demobilisation of the Czech defence industry. Nevertheless, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Czech company Aero Vodochody continued developing the basic L-39 Albatros design with a view toward greater export. The resulting L-39MS, later designed as L-59 Super Albatros, featured a more powerful turbofan engine, advanced avionics, and has been bought in quantity by Egypt and Tunisia. In 1993 a group of Czech military experts launched a project of production of a modern domestic fighter to substitute the obsolete Soviet aircraft. Since the proposed Aero L-X supersonic fighter development proved to be financially demanding (up to 2 billion USD), the less costly L-159 subsonic attack aircraft was approved for procurement instead.

Conducted between the years 1994 and 1997, the technical development of L-159 ALCA in Aero Vodochody consisted primarily of building one L-159 two-seat prototype based on the L-59 airframe utilizing western engine, avionics and weapon systems, with Rockwell Collins (eventually Boeing) as the avionics integrator. In 1995, the Czech government ordered a fleet of 72 L-159A single-seat aircraft at a cost around 50 billion CZK. The contract was signed on 4 July 1997. The number of aircraft to be delivered was based upon the size of the Czech Air Force at that time, taking into account the necessity to replace MiG-23BN and Su-22 fighter-bombers and Su-25 attack aircraft. Due to the cost of the project, the Czech government decided that a strategic partner, the Boeing Company, would be invited to join with the Aero Vodochody in the venture in May 1998. However, in October 2004, Boeing withdrew from the company and the government announced that the Aero Vodochody was to be privatised. In October 2006, it was sold to Penta Investments.