Czechs pressure Sweden on extending jet fighter lease

The Czechs leased the Gripens in 2004 for 10 years and about $927.89 million

From Jan Lopatka, Reuters:  The Czech government will start looking for a new provider of fighter jets unless Sweden improves its offer to extend a lease of its Gripen fighters now used by the air force, the Czech prime minister said on Wednesday.

The Czechs’ lease of 14 Gripens, made by Saab, runs out in 2014 and the central European country is under pressure to find a cheap replacement or an extension, as the army budget shrinks.

But the NATO member’s Prime Minister Petr Necas said on Wednesday the Czechs would prepare a tender to pick a different supplier unless Sweden improves its offer by November.   (photo: Saab)

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