Aero and Thales sign MoU to expand L-39 Skyfox counter-drone role

Aero Vodochody and Thales Belgium have signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen the counter-unmanned aircraft system capabilities of the L-39 Skyfox jet. The agreement covers continued integration and testing of Thales' 70 mm rocket system on the aircraft.

The Skyfox is a two-seat jet trainer and light combat aircraft. It was developed under the L-39NG designation and given its current name in October 2024. It follows the L-39 Albatros, which first flew in 1968. Aero produced close to 3,000 Albatros jets, and roughly 700 of them are still in civil and military service. The first serial-production Skyfox flew on April 21, 2023.

The company showed the type in an armed fit at the Dubai Airshow 2025, carrying two LAU-32 rocket launchers, two 12.7 mm gun pods and a Phoenix pod made by SiNAB Technologies, which the company said demonstrated its capacity to detect, track and engage aerial threats.

At NATO Days in Ostrava on September 19, 2026, the counter-drone configuration, which Aero calls Drone Hunter, was shown to the Czech public for the first time. Aero said the fit showed how the Skyfox could be adapted for C-UAS work and other new missions.

The announcement does not say which rocket variant the MoU covers. Thales Belgium's FZ275 is a semi-active laser-guided 70 mm rocket with a range of 1,500 to 7,000 meters, or about 0.9 to 4.3 miles. At Eurosatory 2026 in June, Thales also introduced the LGR275 Proxy, a laser-guided 70 mm rocket with a proximity fuse intended to detonate near small drones rather than requiring a direct hit.

Such weapons form part of a wider effort to find less costly ways of engaging relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft without using conventional air-to-air missiles.