Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger announced today that he will donate 12 MiG-29 fighters and 30 T-72 tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

BREAKING:

Slovakia will donate its MiG-29 fighter jets & T-72M tanks to Ukraine.

The announcement was made by PM Eduard Heger today.

He said he won’t give any details at the moment.

Slovakia has 12 MiG-29s & 30 T-72 tanks.

Czechia will patrol Slovakia’s skies from Sep.

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— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 3, 2022

For the moment there are no further details, except that the Czech Republic Air Force will take over the security of Slovak airspace from September.

A similar arrangement had been reached with Poland in early May, when its defense minister agreed with his Slovakian counterpart that Polish aircraft would protect its airspace if Slovakia ceded its MiG-29s to Ukraine.

Sea also: Ukraine has chances to receive MiG-29s after Slovakia – Poland agreement

If the Fulcrum transfer is imminent, Poland will probably be the one to protect the integrity of Slovakian airspace until September. If not, Ukraine will start receiving the aircraft in September, and first the air cover will be provided by the Czech Gripen, and then the Polish F-16s will take over.

Slovak MiG-29

Slovakia owns a dozen MiG-29SD, which as of 2005 received an upgrade to standardize them to NATO norms. The work was carried out by the RAC MiG manufacturer and Western companies.

This version features Rockwell Collins navigation and communication systems, a BAE Systems identification friend-of-the-friend (IFF) system, a new glass cockpit with LCD multifunction displays and a new digital mission computer.

These modifications allow the ex-Soviet MiG-29 aircraft to be integrated into NATO’s air command and control structure. However, their armament was not modernized and still uses the same type of missiles, inherited from when Czechoslovakia was part of the USSR.

These fighters were to remain in active service, until they were to be replaced by the 12 new Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70, which would start arriving in Slovakia from 2024.