Capability

The Czech Republic could supply Ukraine with up to 16 Aero L-39NG Skyfox aircraft, potentially giving Kyiv another option for countering Russia’s Shahed-type attack drones. The proposal includes four aircraft previously agreed for transfer and 12 more that Czech officials are now discussing with their Ukrainian counterparts.

Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlíček raised the expanded arrangement during a visit to Kyiv yesterday, where he met Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi. Havlíček described the discussions as encouraging but did not announce a finalized agreement for the additional aircraft.

Skyfox is based on the Cold War-era Aero L-39 Albatros jet trainer, a rugged and reliable Soviet aircraft that was produced in the thousands and served all over the globe. The new L-39NG was reworked and modernized in the 2010s in an effort to recapture jet trainer market share that had waned as the Soviet design was increasingly passed over for more modern alternatives. Many L-39s are also flown by privately in the United States and are used for contracted air support services for the U.S. military. One of the firms that uses them, Draken International, actually assisted in the L-39NG project and acted as a U.S. anchor for the program.

The Skyfox’s redesigned structure makes use of modern materials, reducing weight and increasing structural lifespan to 15,000 flight hours. The American Williams FJ44-4M turbofan, a very widely used jet engine that is found on many private jets, replaces the original Soviet-designed engine, offering far better fuel efficiency, digital engine control, updated ejection seats and improved maintenance support. In contrast to the old Albatros, the Skyfox has a modern glass cockpit and an updated flight control system. The Skyfox has a maximum speed of approximately 560 miles per hour, a service ceiling of 38,000 feet, and five external hardpoints for carrying weapons and other mission equipment. Like its predecessor, although primarily a jet trainer, it also has light combat capabilities.

L-39NG – Nová generace

Its potential counter-drone role is tied to Aero Vodochody’s Drone Hunter concept, which is being developed specifically to engage uncrewed aerial vehicles. The proposed L-39NG configuration features an electro-optical targeting system and launchers for 70mm laser-guided rockets. Gun pods would be another potential option for the counter-drone role.

Drone Hunter would provide Ukraine with a reliable airborne platform for rapidly engaging attack drones, reducing reliance on more expensive surface-to-air missiles and conventional fighter aircraft. However, the system has not yet entered operational service, and its effectiveness will depend on the results of further testing and integration work. Aero Vodochody is working with Belgian defense company Thales on the guided rocket system.

A dedicated counter-drone aircraft in this class would also help preserve Ukraine’s more capable fighter fleet for other missions. Its F-16s, along with the country’s remaining MiG-29 Fulcrums, Su-27 Flankers, and French-supplied Mirage 2000s, are needed for a much wider range of tasks, including counter-air operations, air-to-ground strikes, and intercepting more challenging Russian cruise missiles and jet-powered one-way attack drones. Using these aircraft extensively to hunt relatively inexpensive and slower one-way attack drones adds flight hours, increases maintenance demands, and consumes finite stocks of air-to-air weapons.

Ukraine’s F-16 fleet is already under considerable strain. As TWZ recently reported, more than half of the aircraft were reportedly stuck in maintenance limbo, while shortages of AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles were further complicating operations. The fighters have also been increasingly tasked with countering Russia’s expanding use of faster, jet-powered attack drones. A separate aircraft optimized for engaging slower uncrewed targets could help ease some of that burden.

The potential economic advantage is also significant. Laser-guided 70mm rockets are a much less expensive means of engaging drones compared to conventional air-to-air missiles. Already, Ukraine appears to have introduced the U.S.-made 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rockets to the arsenal available for its F-16s. The Thales 70mm laser-guided rocket is very similar, as you can read about here, and is already being employed by Ukraine in ground-based applications.

As we have reported in the past, guided rockets offer clear cost advantages over traditional air-to-air missiles:

Each APKWS II consists of three core components: a 70mm rocket motor, one of several standard warhead options, and a guidance and control section in between. The guidance and control element is by far the most costly of the three, with a unit price of around $15,000. The warhead and motor add another few thousand dollars to the total cost, which is generally in the $20,000 to $25,000 range. By comparison, current-generation variants of the AIM-120 are in the $1 million unit cost range, with the latest versions of the AIM-9X also being priced at around $500,000.

Aside from the effectors, operating the Skyfox is an entirely different cost proposition than the F-16, for example.

Aero Vodochody puts the Skyfox’s operating costs at approximately $1,700 to $2,300 per flight hour, compared with around $22,000 for an F-16-class fighter. The Skyfox also requires a much less demanding maintenance and logistical support footprint than a frontline fighter. It can fly from rough strips and roadways with ease and can be more readily hidden from view due to its small size.

Ukraine has also previously shown that it is more than willing to adopt less-conventional aerial platforms for countering the drone menace.

One notable example is the Antonov An-28 twin-engine turboprop utility aircraft that has been adapted into a Shahed hunter. The aircraft has been equipped with M134 Miniguns and, more recently, underwing launchers for Ukrainian-made interceptor drones. This approach allows the aircraft to act as an airborne launch platform, bringing interceptors closer to incoming threats while using its own sensors and crew to help locate them. The An-28’s relatively long endurance and short takeoff and landing capabilities also make it well suited to sustained patrols from austere airfields.

The Skyfox would offer a different approach, using a jet-powered platform and guided rockets and gun pods rather than relying on trainable guns or air-launched interceptor drones.

In terms of crewed aircraft being used or considered for counter-drone missions, the L-39NG Skyfox would occupy something of a middle ground. At the higher end are aircraft like the F-16 and other combat jets, which offer substantially greater performance and broader combat capabilities but are also more valuable assets that require much greater levels of support. At the lower end are platforms such as the An-28, helicopters, and even repurposed propeller-driven training aircraft, which offer relatively inexpensive ways to patrol for and engage slower-moving drones.

The requirement for additional counter-drone capabilities is becoming more pressing as Russia continues to evolve its Shahed-family weapons. Alongside the familiar propeller-driven Geran-2, which was derived from the Iranian Shahed-136, Moscow has increasingly employed jet-powered variants, including the Geran-3 and newer Geran-4 and Geran-5. These drones fly faster and at higher altitudes, making them significantly more challenging to engage with the relatively inexpensive interceptor drones Ukraine has relied on heavily.

The Geran-4, for example, is reported to reach speeds of around 280 to 310 miles per hour and operate at altitudes of up to 26,000 feet. Newer variants are also incorporating improved navigation, cameras, and communications equipment, potentially allowing for greater autonomy and more flexible targeting. Russia’s growing use of these weapons is placing additional pressure on Ukraine’s already stretched air-defense network.

Speaking to TWZ, Justin Bronk, Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Military Technology at RUSI, noted that the L-39NG “offers an unusually attractive combination of attributes as a dedicated counter-drone interceptor; being fast enough to easily intercept Geran-3 and Geran-4 jet-powered drones, very cheap and simple to operate compared to frontline fighters and even other advanced trainer jets, already having targeting pod, gunpod and rocket pod options integrated, and being available quickly due to a small existing order book.”

“It also has impressive endurance for an aircraft of its size and weight, so it can stay on station longer than most other jet options without air-to-air refuelling,” Bronk added.

This is largely thanks to its FJ44 engine and is critical to being able to rapidly respond to new inbound threats while remaining airborne for extended periods during raids.

However, Bronk also pointed to its primary limitation: having a radar. “While this makes it harder to acquire the drones during an intercept, it is not as problematic in Ukraine given the extensive existing network of radar-equipped ground-control stations to help guide interceptors to the rough vicinity of the target,” he said.

In addition, Ukraine already has large numbers of pilots and maintenance personnel who are familiar with the previous-generation L-39, so training should be very straightforward to operate the L-39NG. Ukraine’s L-39s have even flown combat operations during the war.

The new Czech proposal follows Ukraine’s unsuccessful effort to obtain L-159 ALCA light combat aircraft from Prague. Czech President Petr Pavel previously supported transferring some of the aircraft to Kyiv, and the Czech military indicated it could release up to four. However, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s government rejected the proposal, arguing that the aircraft were needed by the Czech Armed Forces.

The L-159 has a radar, the Italian FIAR Grifo L, which was eyed as a highly beneficial tool for crews independently detecting and engaging inbound drones, even in all weather conditions. But as Bronk explained, this can be overcome to a degree thanks to Ukraine’s vast drone detection and tracking network.

Already in service with the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Vietnam, the Skyfox is also on order for Angola and Armenia.

Aero Vodochody currently produces approximately 12 Skyfox aircraft annually, with the potential to increase output to 18. However, the company’s production schedule was reportedly booked through the second quarter of 2027, potentially complicating deliveries to Ukraine.

Whatever happens next, the development is indicative of how drone-hunting aircraft are increasingly becoming a feature of the evolving air defense landscape, as militaries look for more economical ways to counter the proliferation of one-way attack drones. It also highlights the possibility that other trainer types could be used to help reduce costs and save the higher-end fighters for more complex missions. Such a strategy could become more widely adopted globally as the threat of one-way attack drones continues to metastasize.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

The head of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) was initially skeptical about the utility of high-altitude balloons, but now sees them as a “game-changing” capability. Lt. Gen. John Rafferty’s comments follow a separate disclosure that the Army axed plans for a balloon swarm test in the Pacific last year and instead sent those systems to support real operations in the Middle East. TWZ has been closely tracking the expanding use of high-altitude balloons and other lighter-than-air systems globally for intelligence gathering, as platforms for launching drones, and in support of other missions, for years now.

Lt. Gen. Rafferty was asked about high-altitude balloons during a media roundtable today, at which TWZ was in attendance, on the sidelines of the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual convention. Army Col. Joseph Mroszczyk, head of SMDC’s Transformation Integration Directorate for Space Superiority (TID-Space Superiority), also discussed the service’s use of balloons during the roundtable. Breaking Defense first reported on the shift of balloon-based capabilities from the Pacific to the Middle East on Monday.

“I’ll just give a little personal history on high-altitude balloons. I started in the Army Futures Command in the Long Range Fires-Cross Functional Team. There was this talk of high-altitude balloons. I think it was the ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] task force was talking about it,” Rafferty said. “It just sounded crazy to me that we were considering this.”

“Then, a few years later, when the Sergeant Major [SDMC Command Sgt. Maj. Rickey Jackson] and I were together in the multi-domain community in Europe, I went with the 2nd MDTF [Multi-Domain Task Force] to Morocco for training and experimentation,” he continued. “[I] saw the high-altitude balloons in action, and I was immediately convinced after I understood better how they worked and how their ability to station-keep, and their ability to sense and even deliver effects from high altitude. It was game-changing for me.”

Broadly speaking, the main benefit that modern high-altitude balloons offer is their ability to be deployed persistently for days, weeks, or even months at a time. Designs available on the market today can hold their position, in spite of prevailing winds, and moderate their altitudes to keep on station, after precisely navigating to an assigned operating area.

On top of their persistence, the altitudes at which these balloons operate provide excellent fields of view for radars, cameras, and other sensors in all directions and across very broad areas. From a perch of 60,000 feet or more, they also offer a way to peer into certain denied areas while still soaring in international airspace and keeping further away from potential threats.

The video below from high-altitude balloon maker Aerostar offers a good general overview of the kind of capabilities on the market today.

Aerostar Thunderhead Balloon System Full Video Updated 1 5 23

As Lt. Gen. Rafferty noted today, ISR is not the only use case for high-altitude balloons, either. They can serve as communications relay nodes, as well as launch platforms for swarms of drones and other expendable payloads. These are all capabilities the Army has explicitly talked about as part of broader plans for balloons in the past. Other countries, especially China, are already actively employing high-altitude balloons for ISR and other missions, as we will come back to later on.

“In my former role as an MDTF commander, we experimented a lot in the Pacific with those [balloon-based] capabilities. We have leveraged different size platforms,” Col. Mroszczyk added today. “In this [TID-Space Superiority] role, as a proponent, what I’m pushing for is a family of stratospheric systems that really covers smaller size all the way up to larger size types of platforms in terms of balloons.”

“What that enables us to provide is space-like capabilities, really exploiting a transition point between what is normally considered the aerial layer and the space domain,” he continued. “Really, where you go from about 60,000 feet to 100,000 feet is what we focus on in the stratosphere. That operational space allows some persistence and broad coverage in an area where you can deliver space-like capabilities in terms of payloads, but then also take advantage of the deep access that you get from a stratospheric balloon.”

“So, being able to go, take advantage of winds that are pushing you where you want to go already to be able to get either launched effects or other types of payloads for sensing and communications and extension of your launched effects portfolio,” he added. “That is a way that we can help exploit the stratosphere, and we’re looking to do that throughout multiple experiments over the course of the coming year.”

“Launched effects,” is a catch-all term the U.S. military now routinely uses to talk collectively about uncrewed aerial systems designed to be launched from other platforms in the air, on the ground, and/or at sea. This encompasses drones configured for a wide variety of missions, including surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, signal relay, and even kinetic attack.

Col. Mroszczyk talked about plans to further demonstrate how high-altitude balloons will be commanded and controlled, as well as networked together with other Army capabilities, when asked to elaborate on what the forthcoming experimentation would entail.

As mentioned, the Army had also planned to demonstrate the ability of balloons to operate in swarms with a high degree of autonomy in the Pacific region last year before those assets were redirected to the Middle East. When exactly that deployment occurred and how long it lasted are unclear.

“We were asked to pivot and do some experimentation in combination with operations, and we pivoted and supported operations in CENTCOM [U.S. Central Command],” Andrew Evans, Director of Strategy and Transformation with the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, or G-2, told Breaking Defense, per the story that outlet published on Monday.

“They were effective for the mission that they were assigned,” he also said, but declined to elaborate further, according to Breaking Defense. “Balloons can be a little finicky in terms of temperature, and you have to contend with environmental characteristics.”

“We had a lot of help from vendors in this space, but as you think about employing your systems and going from something like a Pacific [theater] to something like a CENTCOM [theater], you learn where those friction points might exist between what the military might need to inherently own, and … what a vendor could help provide in terms of the service,” Evans added. Furthermore, “balloons can be a little finicky in terms of temperature, and you have to contend with environmental characteristics.”

The remarks today from Lt. Gen. Rafferty and Col. Mroszczyk underscore the Army’s commitment to fielding new high-altitude balloon-based capabilities and the immense benefits the service sees in them. However, the continued emphasis on testing and experimentation highlights a discrepancy with the state of the service’s current efforts, and even more so in light of global trends.

The Army has been openly talking about balloons as part of its vision for a new multi-layered persistent sensor architecture, and how they could also be used to launch drones and other ‘effects,’ for at least six years now. In that same time, China has very actively shown off its ability to gather intelligence and conduct other missions using balloons and other lighter-than-air craft on a broad operational level across the Pacific. TWZ had been reporting on this reality for years before it was thrust fully into the public consciousness after a Chinese spy balloon passed over parts of the United States and Canada back in 2023.

Other countries, including U.S. allies and partners, are increasingly fielding balloon-based and other lighter-than-air systems, too. Forces in Ukraine have notably been using balloons to conduct kinetic attacks and launch drones in the course of the ongoing conflict with Russia. On the other side of that conflict, Russian forces have used balloons as decoys to confuse and misdirect air defenses.

The Middle East deployment does show new efforts on the Army’s part to operationalize high-altitude balloons on a more widespread basis, but also that it is still relying on largely experimental capabilities to do so. Earlier this year, the service called attention to the establishment of a new schoolhouse for high-altitude balloon training to help further lay this groundwork, further underscoring how all of this is still very much in its infancy.

The remarks today from Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, especially, show there is substantial support within the Army for pushing ahead with high-altitude balloon programs. At the same time, there is clearly much work to be done if they are to have a truly game-changing impact, while the gap with China and others only continues to grow.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com