Albania Buys Eurocopters

December 21, 2009 by Matthew Potter
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Countries, EADS, Events, Military Aviation, logistics, production program 

The former Eastern European satellite countries of the Soviet Union have made a hodgepodge of strides over the last twenty years to a more modern military. Some of the more Western ones like Czech Republic and Hungary have begun buying NATO standard weapons and equipment. Others due to their poor economies and situations have not been able to do much.

It was announced yesterday that Albania which is one of the poorest countries in Europe will spend what must be a significant portion of their defense budget on five Eurocopter aircraft. The Cougar medium transports will be delivered in about three years at a cost of almost $100 million. They will represent a major upgrade over what old and less capable Russian Mil aircraft.

The market in this part of Europe had been hoped to be a big one for U.S. and European defense contractors. Unfortunately the global recession along with economic and political problems has limited the amount of funds available to be spent on new weapons. Perhaps as NATO continues its expansion and the world’s economy picks up there will be more orders like this.

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