Czech Republic to send 35 air instructors to train Iraqi pilots
Xinhua, March 30, 2016 Adjust font size:
The Czech government approved on Wednesday a proposal of sending 35 air instructors to Iraq to help train pilots of Czech L-159 aircraft for fighting the Islamic State (IS), said Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek.
According to the proposal submitted by Czech Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky, the defence ministry will provide consultancy for Iraqi military pilots, the ground technical personnel and other experts in a wide range of activities linked to flying, deployment and technical maintenance of the L-159 aircraft.
Stropnicky said previously the team will also be comprised of technicians.
The instructors will continue training Iraqi pilots who were until recently trained on L-159 aircraft in the Czech Republic.
The trained pilots are to back up ground operations from the air.
The proposal is yet to be approved by Czech parliament. After the approval of the proposal, the instructors are to operate in Iraq, and their mission will last until the end of 2018.
Czech government has approved the sale of 15 redundant L-159 combat planes to Iraq in 2015. Of the 15 fighter jets designated for the Iraqi military, 11 are mothballed and four have been used by Czech soldiers. Ten of the jets are one-seat and two are two-seat, while the other three planes will be dismantled to provide spare parts. Endit