STEWART PENNEY / LONDON
Deal to take more advanced aircraft will delay deliveries, but includes right to buy
Hungary has renegotiated its 2001 agreement with Sweden for the lease of 14 Saab/BAE Systems Gripen multirole fighters. The country will now take aircraft upgraded to NATO standards - equivalent to Sweden's JAS39C - rather than JAS39A-standard aircraft.
As with its earlier deal, Hungary will lease 12 single-seat fighters and a pair of two-seaters. Neither side will give a value for the contract, but Hungarian media reports suggest it will cost Budapest 30 billion forints ($132 million) more than the 108 billion forints agreed in 2001.
Another amendment will mean Hungary can buy the aircraft at the end of the 10-year lease. Before any purchase can be finalised, the Hungarian parliament must approve the change to the deal. Swedish sources say, however, this will not affect the fighter lease.
The decision to take the more advanced aircraft means deliveries will slip by just over a year to the first half of 2006.
In 2001, Hungary secured an offset deal worth 110% of the acquisition cost, and Saab has agreed to increase the programme's value in line with the increased worth of the fighter lease. The Swedish company has submitted a first batch of offset deals worth 39 billion forints to Hungary's economics ministry.
The upgraded Gripen has in-flight refuelling, compatibility with NATO-standard laser-guided bombs, improved electronic warfare, onboard oxygen generation, English language, full-colour cockpit displays and a NATO-interoperable communications suite.
Source: Flight International
