Besides, they will be trained in the desert before the end of the year, Braun said.
The exercise Mountain Fly, to be held on September 1-12, will be attended by 72 people, Braun said.
There will be eight crews now being prepared for the first and second rotations of the helicopter mission in Afghanistan and the Mi-24 combat helicopters.
“On Monday, four Mi-171 S and two combat helicopters will leave for France. The training will be held in the mountains on the French-Spanish border,” Braun said.
The pilots will mainly train flying in high altitude with thin air and a different technique of piloting.
Deputy chief of staff Josef Proks told CTK earlier the conditions in the Pyrenees corresponded with those in Afghanistan with the altitude of 2000 metres.
The pilots will also undergo training in desert conditions, but it has not yet been decided where it will take place.
“I will not disclose the site at the moment as it is being prepared. However, it is very realistic at the moment that the training in the desert conditions will take place by the end of the year,” Braun said.
The mission is yet to be approved by the government and parliament. The army would like to start the mission by mid-2009.
The soldiers will use transport helicopters in Afghanistan.
Five Mi-171s are being adapted in the Letecke opravne Malesice repair works to be used by the soldiers.
They are to be ready by the end of the year, whereupon soldiers and pilots will test them for some months.
The new helicopters, the Czech Republic received as part of the repayment of the Russian debt, will have armoured cockpits and bullet-proof carpets. They will also include electronic protection elements, active detection of hostile fire and the possibility to fire delusive targets.
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