Aero L-159 Alca

The Aero L-159 ALCA, short for Advanced Light Combat Aircraft and also written L-159 Alca, is a family of subsonic light combat aircraft and advanced trainers built in the Czech Republic by Aero Vodochody, in single-seat L-159A and two-seat L-159T versions. It was derived from the Aero L-59 Super Albatros, itself developed from the L-39 Albatros. Development began in 1993 to replace Soviet-era fighters with a Czech-built equivalent, the Czech government ordered 72 L-159A aircraft, the type made its maiden flight on 4 August 1997 and the first production aircraft was delivered to the Czech Air Force on 10 April 2000. It is powered by the non-afterburning Honeywell and ITEC F124-GA-100 turbofan with a maximum thrust of 28 kN. Iraq and Draken International also operate it, and production restarted in 2017.