The Bulgarian Air Force awarded a contract to the Aero Vodochody, which is the Czech defense company, to upgrade two L-39ZA combat training aircraft. The work will begin in January 2023 and is about to be completed in 2024, the cost of the contract has not been disclosed, as Scramble.ln reports.
It is assumed that as part of the Bulgarian L-39ZA modernization, the russian-made avionics will be removed from these aircraft and replaced with more advanced Western equipment, the engines will be overhauled, and the auxiliary power plant will be updated. After the modernization, the L-39ZA should serve another 7.5 years or 1,500 flight hours.
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The peculiarity of the L-39ZA is that this combat trainer can be used as a light attack aircraft. All the more so since this jet is equipped with 4 external suspension units and a 23-mm twin-barreled GSH-23L aviation cannon with 150 rounds of ammunition. The combat load can be up to 1100 kg (against 290 kg in the basic version of the L-39C), units with unguided missiles or aerial bombs.
In addition to the fact that the L-39ZA is actually a light attack aircraft, it is also a rather rare one. The Military Balance 2022 indicates that only two countries in Europe have it: Bulgaria with a total of six L-39ZA’s, and Slovakia, which has two jet of this type in service, one is in storage. The Czech Republic, as the base manufacturer of the L39 Albatros jets, uses training and combat L-159, the most advanced aircraft of this type.
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