Aero L-39 Albatros
The Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer designed and produced in Czechoslovakia by Aero Vodochody. In addition to performing basic and advanced pilot training, it has also flown combat missions in a light-attack role. Unusually, the aircraft never received a NATO reporting name.
| L-39 Albatros | |
|---|---|
| A Czech Air Force L-39 | |
| Role | Military trainer aircraft Light ground-attack aircraft |
| National origin | Czechoslovakia |
| Manufacturer | Aero Vodochody |
| Designer | Jan Vlček |
| First flight | 4 November 1968 |
| Introduction | 28 March 1972 with the Czechoslovak Air Force |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | Soviet Air Force (Old) Ukrainian Air Force Czechoslovak Air Force Libyan Air Force Syrian Air Force |
| Produced | 1971–1996 2023–present (L-39NG) |
| Number built | 2,900 |
| Developed from | Aero L-29 Delfín |
| Variants | Aero L-39NG |
| Developed into | Aero L-59 Super Albatros Aero L-159 Alca |
The L-39 Albatros was designed during the 1960s as a successor to the Aero L-29 Delfín, an early jet-powered principal training aircraft. Performing its maiden flight on 4 November 1968, it became the first trainer aircraft in the world to be equipped with a turbofan powerplant. Quantity production of the L-39 Albatros proceeded in 1971; one year later, it was formally recognized by the majority of the Warsaw Pact countries as their preferred primary trainer. Accordingly, thousands of L39s would be produced for various military customers in Eastern Europe. Additionally, it was exported to a range of countries across the world both as a trainer and a light attack aircraft. Since the 1990s, it has also become popular among civilian operators. By the end of the century, in excess of 2,800 L-39s had served with over 30 air forces.
Several derivatives of the L-39 Albatros were developed. During the 1980s, Aero Vodochody used it as the basis for the L-59 Super Albatros, an enlarged and updated model. Furthermore, the L-39 lineage would be extended to the L-139, a prototype L-39 fitted with a Western-sourced Garrett TFE731 engine. A combat-oriented development of the aircraft, designated as the L-159 ALCA, entered production in 1997, and has since been procured by a range of export customers. Production of the original L-39 came to an end during the mid-1990s, orders having declined substantially following the end of the Cold War. At the Farnborough Airshow in July 2014, Aero Vodochody announced the launch of the L-39NG, an upgraded and modernised version of the L-39; this programme is set to produce new-build aircraft alongside the extensive rebuilding of existing aircraft. In 2023, production of the L-39NG resumed, with 34 aircraft on order.