Aero Vodochody has clarified that Serbia has not yet signed a contract for the L-39 Skyfox, days after Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said six of the advanced trainers had already been sold to the country.
The Czech manufacturer confirmed on November 10 that it has submitted a specific proposal to Serbia and that negotiations have “advanced significantly.” Technical, commercial and financial matters, however, are still being discussed before any contract can be signed.
The statement effectively corrects an announcement made by Babiš at the Prague Security Dialogue on November 5. The prime minister said the Czech Republic had succeeded in selling six Skyfox aircraft to Serbia and also referred to sales of L-410 turboprops to the country. His comments were subsequently reported as confirmation that Serbia had become the latest Skyfox customer.
Aero had been more cautious from the beginning. Company spokesman Lukáš Hora confirmed at the time that an offer had been submitted to Serbia but did not confirm that a contract had been concluded.
Political announcement came too early
Aero's new statement carefully avoids directly contradicting the Czech prime minister and instead thanks Babiš personally for supporting Czech companies and helping them pursue opportunities abroad.
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The company said the proposal was presented to Serbia through Babiš during his official visit to the country and was received “very positively.”
Aero nevertheless made a clear distinction between the current stage of the talks and an actual order. The company said negotiations of this scale normally take several months and involve technical, operational, commercial and contractual issues.
It also noted that not every intermediate development is continuously communicated at the political level, suggesting that the discrepancy resulted from the government describing an advanced negotiation as a completed sale.
Aero said it remains optimistic that an agreement will be concluded in the near future but declined to disclose further details. It did not confirm the six-aircraft quantity cited by Babiš, nor did it provide a potential contract value or delivery schedule.
Skyfox evaluated in Serbia
The L-39 Skyfox is one of the aircraft being considered as Serbia looks at the future of its military pilot training fleet. The country's air force currently relies on the Yugoslav-designed Soko G-4 Super Galeb for advanced jet training.
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Aero demonstrated the Skyfox at Batajnica Air Base near Belgrade earlier this year, giving Serbian military personnel an opportunity to evaluate the aircraft.
The Czech jet is not the only platform Serbia has examined. Other training aircraft have also been demonstrated or evaluated as Belgrade considers how to modernize a training system that will soon have to prepare pilots for a substantially different generation of combat aircraft.
That requirement has become more important following Serbia's purchase of 12 new Dassault Rafale fighters from France. The €2.7 billion (approximately US$3.1 billion) agreement signed in 2024 covers nine single-seat and three two-seat aircraft, with the first jet expected in 2028. The Rafales will replace Serbia's aging MiG-29 fleet.
Babiš specifically linked the Skyfox proposal to the Rafale program when announcing the supposed sale, saying the Czech aircraft could be used to prepare Serbian pilots for the French fighters.
Possible replacement for Super Galeb
A purchase of the Skyfox could eventually provide Serbia with a successor to at least part of its G-4 Super Galeb fleet, although neither Aero nor the Serbian government has formally confirmed that the Czech aircraft has been selected for that role.
The G-4 was developed in Yugoslavia during the 1970s and made its first flight in 1978. Serbia inherited the type following the breakup of Yugoslavia and continues to operate it for training and light combat duties.
Unlike several other Central and Eastern European air forces, Yugoslavia did not operate the original Aero L-39 Albatros, having developed its own jet trainers. A Skyfox acquisition would therefore introduce an Aero training platform into the Serbian Air Force rather than replace an earlier generation of the Czech manufacturer's aircraft.
Previously designated L-39NG, the Skyfox combines the basic lineage of the L-39 family with a new Williams International FJ44 turbofan, modern avionics and extensive structural changes. It can be used for advanced and tactical training as well as light combat missions.
