On Sunday, 15 February 2026, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio paid an official visit to Slovakia. Earlier, he had visited Germany, where he participated in the 62nd Munich Security Conference 2026, and today he is visiting Budapest. However, during his meeting in Bratislava with Prime Minister Robert Fico, important declarations were made regarding Slovakia’s security and its cooperation with the United States.
Photo: Office of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic
One of the main topics was cooperation on the construction of another 1,400 MW nuclear power plant unit by 2040. From a military perspective, two issues were discussed: the construction of a military hospital in Prešov, in the eastern part of the country, and the purchase of additional Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70 multirole fighter aircraft – the government in Bratislava is interested in acquiring four more units. The contract is expected to be concluded this year.
“I would like to ask for understanding in the area of the fact that we want to do projects of dual use based on military budgets. For example, a good example is a military hospital which is being built in the eastern part of Slovakia near Ukraine border. We’ll continue our military cooperation. You know that we procured fighter jets, F-16, from the U.S. There’s an interest to increase numbers to 18 fighter jets, and now we’re discussing the topic about how to get four more of the planes to our armed forces because there is – it’s not a good sign of sovereignty that our airspace is protected by planes of Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. We get into this sad situation because our military equipment was gifted to Ukraine from 2022 to 23,” said Prime Minister Robert Fico during the press conference.
So far, Slovakia has ordered 14 of the latest F-16 aircraft, a decision announced on 11 July 2018, rejecting a Swedish counteroffer from Saab Defence and Security featuring the JAS 39 Gripen (the procurement program had been underway since 2015). The F-16C/D Block 70 were selected as successors to 11 operational MiG-29AS/UBS fighters, which at the time were assigned to the 1st Fighter Squadron (1. Bojová letka) of the Tactical Wing (Taktické krídlo Otta Smika) of the Air Force of the Slovak Republic (Vzdušné sily Ozbrojených síl Slovenskej republiky), based at Sliač Air Base. On 28 September 2019, a twelfth aircraft crashed.
Photo: Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic
The package for Slovakia was valued at up to 2.91 billion USD and, in addition to the aircraft themselves, included AN/APG-83 SABR active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems, AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, GBU-12, GBU-38 and GBU-49 guided bombs, as well as Mk 82 bombs. The intergovernmental agreement, worth more than 1.6 billion EUR, was concluded in December 2018 (the final contract value was reduced through negotiations).
On 31 July 2019, the U.S. Department of Defense signed a 799,955,939 USD contract with Lockheed Martin for their production and delivery, with completion scheduled by 31 January 2024. Interestingly, the initial plan had been to acquire used U.S. F-16A/B aircraft stored by the U.S. Air Force (USAF), but refurbishment and modernization costs, estimated at 220 million EUR, proved too high.
On 27 October 2021, then Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď took part in a symbolic ceremony marking the start of production of the first F-16 aircraft, which received the manufacturer’s serial number EY-01. He later met with a group of Slovak pilots undergoing initial F-16 training at the international training center at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. On 14 April 2023, Minister Naď announced that the government had transferred all 13 pledged MiG-29AS/UBS fighter jets to Ukraine.
The first three Slovak F-16s arrived in the country in two batches in 2024: on 22 July and 12 December. By the end of 2025, a further seven aircraft had been delivered, including the latest at the end of December. The remaining four are scheduled to arrive this year, and by mid-year Initial Operational Capability (IOC) will be declared, along with the assumption of air policing duties within the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINADS). Notably, aircraft maintenance will be handled by the local industry, specifically Letecké opravovne Trenčín (LOTN) (Slovak F-16D Block 70 through the lens of MILMAG).
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