Czech Air Force AH-1Z Delivered

The Czech Air Force received its first two AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters at Namest nad Oslavou Air Base, flown in aboard a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. The pair opened deliveries of a mixed H-1 fleet of twenty helicopters, twelve purchased and eight transferred at no cost by the United States, which is replacing the Soviet-era Mi-24 and Mi-35 family. The AH-1Z shares engines, rotor systems and much of its avionics with the UH-1Y Venom, an arrangement designed to cut the training and maintenance burden carried by a small air force.