Aero L-159 ALCA

The Aero L-159 ALCA is a light subsonic attack jet and advanced trainer developed in the single-seat L-159A and two-seat L-159B versions respectively, produced in the Czech Republic by Aero Vodochody. In 2003, the Czech Air Force elected to reduce its own fleet of seventy-two L-159A aircraft to twenty-four and has re-sold most of the redundant aircraft to both military and civilian operators, namely the Afghan and Iraqi air forces as well as Draken International Inc and Lewis Fighter Fleet LLC.

Variants

• Aero L-159A: The L-159A ALCA is a single-seat light multi-role combat aircraft designed for a variety of air-to-air, air-to-ground and reconnaissance missions. The aircraft is equipped with a multi-mode Doppler Grifo-L radar (a variant of the Grifo-F x-band multi-mode, pulse-doppler radar), for all-weather, day and night operations. It can carry a wide range of NATO standard stores including air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles and laser guided bombs. The L-159A is in operational service with the Czech and Iraqi air forces. There are two different configurations being used by the Czech Air Force – using the Honeywell 4x4 inch MFDs or the Vdot 5x6.7 inch MFDs. Avionic upgrades are designed and developed by V-Dot Systems Inc.
• Aero L-159B: The L-159B, also known as L-159B Albatros II, is a two-seat version primarily designed for Advanced and Operational/Lead-In Fighter Training. The L-159B configuration can also be tailored to customer specific requirements and adapted to needs of basic training as well as combat missions including air-to-ground, patrol and reconnaissance missions. On July 23^rd 2002, the Czech military signed a letter of intent on acquisition of the first two L-159B aircraft. However, due to the budget constraints the trade did not materialize. The only prototype has been rebuilt by Aero Vodochody into L-159T2X demonstrator. The aircraft's designation was changed on December 14^th 2015.
• Aero L-159E: The L-159E ALCA is the export designation of L-159A in service with Draken International.
• Aero L-159T1: The L-159T1 is a two-seat trainer derivative used by the Czech and Iraqi Air Force. All L-159T1s (excluding one newly built L-159T1 for the Iraqi Air Force) are modified L-159A airframes taken from storage. Unlike L-159A, they have just one MFD in each cockpit and no radar. L-159T1 S/N 6069 made its first flight on 8 March 2007 and the first batch of four aircraft was handed over to the Czech Air Force on November 23^rd 2007. Another two aircraft were delivered in August and December 2010, respectively. L-159T1 S/N 6069 was transferred to Aero Vodochody on June 30^th 2015 as a part of the Iraqi contract which included handover of four actively used aircraft – three L-159A and one L-159T1 – to the Iraqi Air Force.
• Aero L-159T1+: Prototype L-159T1+ S/N 6067 (manufactured as L-159A in 2003 and converted to L-159T1 in 2007) was unveiled by Aero Vodochody in March 2017. L-159T1+ aircraft are characterized by an upgraded mission system, avionics and newly installed Grifo-L radar, offering the same combat capability as the single-seat L-159A. The T1+ modernization of four Czech Air Force L-159T1 is scheduled to be completed in December 2019.
• Aero L-159T2: The L-159T2 is a two-seat trainer with full combat capability converted from stored L-159A airframes. Compared to the L-159T1, it has a higher proportion of newly manufactured components and a Grifo-L radar installed. Instead of mirroring the instruments to the rear seat, the new two-seater will have independent instruments interchangeable with the L-159A while using the same software configuration. The Czech Air Force has ordered four L-159T2 aircraft scheduled to be delivered in November 2018.
• F/A-259: Combat-capable variant first unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow on 16 July 2018. Developed in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries and powered by a Honeywell F124-GA-100 engine. The aircraft is pitched for the U.S. Air Force Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance program.

Users

• Afghanistan
  • Afghan Air Force x 28
• Czech Republic
  • Czech Air Force x 24
• Hungary
  • Hungarian Air Force x 1 - evaluation only
• Iraq
  • Iraqi Air Force x 14
• Ireland
  • Irish Air Corps x 6
• United States
  • Draken International Inc. x 22
  • Lewis Fighter Fleet LLC x 4
• Vietnam
  • Vietnam People's Air Force x 12

See Also

Related Development

• Aero L-39 Albatros
  • Aero L-39NG Albatros
• Aero L-59 Super Albatros

Comparable Aircraft

• BAe Systems Hawk
  • British Aerospace Hawk 200
  • McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk
• Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet
• FMA IA-63 Pampa
• Hongdu JL-8
• Kawasaki T-4
• Textron AirLand Scorpion
• Yakovlev Yak-130/Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master