The L-39ZA is a light attack jet used by both Czech military forces and the Takistani Army in ArmA 2. It was added with the release of the Operation Arrowhead expansion pack.
Overview[]
- Role:
- Close air support
« | The Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer aircraft. It was developed in Czechoslovakia and was widely used for pilot training all over the world. This L-39ZA version is armed with a GS-23L 23mm twin barrel automated cannon and S-5 unguided missiles. Armoury Description
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Design[]
The L-39ZA is a single engine, low-wing jet-powered light attack aircraft with trapezoidal wings. It is mainly designed for training purposes but is capable of ground attack duties as well.
Armament
By default, the L-39ZA is armed with a 23 mm cannon that is loaded with 150 rounds of high-explosive (HE) ammunition. It is also fitted with a 57 mm rocket pod under each wing which have 64 rockets loaded in total (32 per pod).
Features
Originally intended for use as a jet trainer, the L-39ZA complements the heavier but slower Su-25 in the close air support role. It is designed with simplicity in mind and lacks the need for extended maintenance like other advanced aircraft.
Mobility
Aerodynamically, the L-39ZA is quite agile and is able to perform sharp mid-air turns without much loss in power, though it isn't nearly as fast as the L-159 ALCA is.
Drawbacks
The L-39ZA has minimal armour compared to the Su-25. It also cannot carry any air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles or iron bombs, which restricts it to performing strafing runs with its cannon and rockets only.
With no defensive avionics whatsoever, the L-39ZA is also completely vulnerable to anti-air missiles. Needless to say, the L-39ZA works best alongside the Su-25; with the latter taking out heavier ground threats with its ATGMs while the former cleans up any remaining threats with rocket fire.
Crew Capacity
The L-39ZA has a maximum seating capacity of one. It cannot transport any passengers or additional crew.
Variants[]
L-39C[]
- Main article: L-39C
Protection[]
The L-39ZA has a base armour value of 60.
Hull[]
The L-39ZA's hull can only withstand 60 points of damage. Depletion of the hull's integrity will instantly result in a total loss.
Armament[]
The pilot solely controls all weapon systems on the jet:
GSh-23L[]

Base damage value | Aerodynamic friction | Initial velocity (m/s) |
---|---|---|
45 | -0.000824 | 830 |
23 mm autocannon. Fires hybrid HE/AP-type shells that are useful for unarmoured/lightly-armoured ground vehicles and low-flying helicopters.
Shells are always fired in bursts of 2. It can attain a fire rate of up to ~ 1,500 rounds per minute and has a muzzle velocity of 830 m/s. At distances of approximately 1,250 metres, the GSh-23L has a dispersion spread of 0.0006 rad.
S-5[]

Damage type | Base damage value | Maximum speed (m/s) |
---|---|---|
High-Explosive | 150 | 580 |
Unguided air-to-ground rockets. Strong against groups of infantry and unarmoured ground vehicles.
Rockets are always fired in pairs. The pods have a firing delay of 0.08 seconds in-between volleys (750 RPM) and are launched with an initial velocity of 44 m/s. They take a further 1.1 seconds to reach a top speed of 580 m/s in mid-flight.
The warheads are high-explosive (HE) based and have a blast radius of 12 metres.
Avionics[]
MAWS[]
The L-39ZA does not have a Missile Approach Warning System and will not warn the pilot of incoming missiles already in mid-flight.
RWR[]
The L-39ZA does not possess a Radar Warning Receiver and cannot alert the pilot of being locked-onto by radar-based targeting systems.
IWR[]
The L-39ZA lacks an Infrared Warning Receiver, and will not warn the pilot of being targeted by infrared-based weapon systems.
Trivia[]
- Oddly enough, the L-39ZA's cockpit uses a tandem seating arrangement like its real-world counterpart but cannot actually carry a co-pilot in-game.
- Given that the canopy for both positions will open and close whenever the aircraft is entered/exited, it's not known whether this was intended by design or is simply an oversight.
Gallery[]
External links[]
See also[]
Variants[]
- L-39C (ArmA 2: ACR only)
Aircraft of comparable role and configuration[]
- L-159 ALCA (ACR counterpart, ArmA 2: ACR only)
- A-143 Buzzard (AAF counterpart, ArmA 3 only)
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Wheeled | ATV • BRDM-2 • Dingo 2 CZ • HMMWV GPK • Military Offroad • Pandur II 8x8 CZ • RM-70 • T810 • UAZ-469 |
Tracked | BMP-2 • T-72M4 CZ |
Rotor-wing | Mi-171Sh • Mi-24V |
Fixed-wing | L-159 ALCA • L-39C • L-39ZA |
Aquatic | PBX |
(Parenthesis) denote variants. Operation Arrowhead | Army of the Czech Republic |
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Wheeled | 9P117 SCUD-B • BM-21 Grad • BTR-60 • BRDM-2 • Military Offroad • Motorcycle • SUV • UAZ-469 • Ural • V3S |
Tracked | BMP-2 • BVP-1 • M113 • T-34 • T-55 • T-72 • ZSU-23-4 |
Rotor-wing | Mi-8 • Mi-24D • UH-1H |
Fixed-wing | An-2 • L-39ZA • Su-25 |
Operation Arrowhead | Army of the Czech Republic |