Georgia During the
War in Abkhazia (1992–1993), Abkhaz separatist forces received several L-39s from Russia and Chechnya, which were used in combat against Georgian forces. On 10 January 1993, an Abkhaz L-39 was shot down by a Russian
SA-11 Buk during a friendly-fire incident. The pilot, Oleg Chanba, who was commander of the Abkhaz separatist air force, was killed during the incident. Footage released later by Georgian authorities clearly shows a drone being brought down by a heat-seeking missile fired from a
MiG-29. A UN investigation also concluded that the footage was authentic and that the drone was shot down by a Russian MiG-29 using a
Vympel R-73 heat seeking missile.
Afghanistan The
Taliban Air Force had managed to obtain around five L-39C aircraft from the remnants of the former
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Air Force; with foreign technical support and pilots, these were placed into combat operations during the later stages of the
1996–2001 phase of the Afghan civil war against the
Northern Alliance. In early 2001, only two of these reportedly remained operational. Following the
United States invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, a number of L-39s were inducted into the
Afghan Air Force.
Azerbaijan A number of L-39s, along with older L-29s, were used extensively by Azeri forces to perform ground attack missions during the
First Nagorno-Karabakh War in the 1980s and early 1990s. A number of these were reportedly shot down by air defenses employed by the
Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army. In September 2015, Aero Vodochody sought a large order for the latest model of the L-39 to Azerbaijan; by this point, Azerbaijan had a total of 24 airworthy L-39s remaining in service.
Chechnya The newly de facto independent
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria found itself with dozens of L-39s (as well as several L-29s, three MiG-17s, two MiG-15UTIs, helicopters and other transport and civilian aircraft) left at
Khankala and Kalinovskaya airbases by the
Soviet Air Force in 1992. Most of these, however, were reportedly abandoned or not in flyable condition, but during the August–November 1994 conflict between nationalist and pro-Russian forces L-39s were deployed and were possibly one of the few air attack (and possibly reconnaissance) elements on
Dzhokar Dudayev's forces. At least one was reported as shot down near
Goragorsk on October 4 by a
Strela-2 MANPADS fired by
Doku Zavgayev's pro-Russian militia. The pilot, Col. Ali Musayev and the co-pilot Dedal Dadayev were killed. One of the main reasons that prompted the first
Su-25 air raids that destroyed the Chechen air force on the ground, and started the
Russian intervention, was preparations being made by Dudayev's air force, which had been spotted by reconnaissance
Sukhoi Su-24MRs. There were fears that these aircraft could slow or deter the Russian air and ground campaign, as well as the capability of several aircraft to conduct
kamikaze attacks on Russian nuclear power plants (specifically via means of the ejection seat in most aircraft, notably the L-39, by filling them with explosives to act as improvised cruise missiles). During the American-led
invasion of Iraq in 2003, on 14 April 2003, a pair of
United States Navy McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets attacked several L-29 and L-39 aircraft on the ground at an airfield near the city of
Tikrit; these had been believed to have been modified to perform as delivery platforms for weapons.
Libya Libya acquired some 180 L-39ZOs around 1978, which served at
Sabha and
Okba Ben Nafi flying schools along with Yugoslav-made
G-2 Galeb for advanced jet training and Italian-made
SF.260s (for primary training). The L-39s were deployed during the
Chadian-Libyan conflict, mainly to Ouadi Doum air base. During the final Chadian offensive in March 1987, the Chadians captured Ouadi Doum along with several aircraft (11 L-39s included) and Soviet SAM systems and tanks. A Chadian report to the
UN, reported the aforementioned capture on 11 L-39s and the destruction (or downing) of at least four of them. In the midst of that conflict, on 21 April 1983, three LARAF
Ilyushin Il-76TDs and one
Lockheed C-130 Hercules landed at
Manaus Airport,
Brazil after one of the Il-76s developed technical problems while crossing the
Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft were then searched by the Brazilian authorities: instead of medical supplies – as quoted in the transport documentation – the crate of the first of 17 L-39s bound for
Nicaragua together with arms and parachutes, to
support the country's war against US-backed
Contras, were found. The cargo was impounded for some time before being returned to Libya, while the transports were permitted to return to their country. During the 1990s and 2000s, Libya made multiple attempts to get components and services for its air force in spite of an
embargo placed upon the country by
United Nations Security Council Resolution 748; by 2001, only half of Libya's L-39s were serviceable as a consequence.
Russia Following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the
Russian Air Force in 1991, the newly formed service found itself with hundreds of L-39 aircraft, the majority of which were surplus to their training requirements. According to author Stephan Wilkinson, by 2005, Russia was seeking to potentially sell up to 800 of their L-39s, which were receiving only a basic level of maintenance once per month while their fate was being decided. Starting in the early 1990s, the Russian Air Force has pursued the development of a domestically built jet trainer, for which the
Yakovlev Yak-130 was selected; the Yak-130 shall eventually replace the L-39 in Russian service within its operational roles.
Syria The
Syrian Arab Air Force has operated a number of armed L-39ZA light attack variants. Since the early stages of the
Syrian civil war, the Syrian Air Force's L-39 aircraft have been routinely deployed in
counter-insurgency operations against various rebel ground forces, a number of these aircraft have also been shot down by ground fire. They were first used operationally during the
Battle of Aleppo, launching several strikes upon rebel-held positions. It has been claimed the L-39 was the first fixed-wing aircraft to be employed against the rebels. In February 2013, insurgents successfully captured a number of intact L-39s, along with their support equipment, after raiding and later taking over the Al-Jarrah airbase. In late 2013, reports emerged of claims by Islamist fighters that they had successfully flown two of the captured L-39s. In October 2014, the Syrian Government claimed that at least two rebel-held L-39s had been airworthy and had recently been destroyed by Syrian Air Force aircraft. According to
Reuters, by 2014, the L-39 had allegedly become one of the favoured platforms of the Syrian Air Force for performing ground attack missions due to its slower speed and higher agility over other aircraft in its inventory. In December 2015, following the securing of the Kweiris airbase by government forces, the resumption of ground-attack missions by L-39s in the vicinity of
Aleppo commenced shortly thereafter. On 3 March 2020, a Syrian Arab Army Air Force L-39 was shot down by a
Turkish Air Force F-16 over Idlib province. Both Syrian and Turkish forces confirmed the downing. During the
Northwestern Syria offensive (2024), some L-39s were captured by
Syrian opposition forces after the
capture of Aleppo.
Ukraine On 24 February 2022, a Ukrainian L-39 from the
39th Tactical Aviation Brigade (Ukraine) piloted by Dmytro Kolomiyets was shot down by a Russian aircraft in
Khmelnytskyi during the opening hours of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 9 August 2022, Dmytro Kolomiyets was posthumously awarded with the
Order of the Gold Star. On 25 August 2023, two Ukrainian L-39s collided during a combat mission over
Zhytomyr, killing three pilots. Among those killed was combat pilot
Andrii Pilshchykov, an Order of Courage recipient more commonly known by his callsign "Juice", who had become famous in the west for his articulate appeals early in the war for allies to supply
F-16s to Ukraine.
Civilian use While newer versions are now replacing older L-39s in service, thousands remain in active service as trainers, and many are finding new homes with private
warbird owners all over the world. It has been claimed that the L-39's desirability stems from it being "the only available second-generation jet trainer". Their popularity led to a purely L-39 Jet class being introduced at the
Reno Air Races in 2002, though it has since been expanded to include other, similar aircraft. In September 2012, there were 255 L-39s registered with the U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration and four registered with
Transport Canada. Several display teams use the L-39 such as the
Patriots Jet Team (6 L-39s), the
Breitling Jet Team (7 L-39s) and the Black Diamond Jet Team (5 L-39s). There are also several L-39s that have been made available for private jet rides by various operators in Australia,
Czech Republic,
France,
Germany,
Spain and the US. These L-39s are mostly in private hands, but some also belong to government agencies, such as those in
Vyazma,
Russia. and four others registered as
L-39C. Since 2004, the Defence & MRO Division of Aero Vodochody has performed a general maintenance, repair and modernisation program of civil-operated L-39s, as well as performing the demilitarisation of ex-military aircraft. Services offered to civil operators include life-extension programs, support for civil registration/certification, training of ground/flight crew, logistics and analysis, customization, routine inspection, condition-based maintenance support, and providing general expertise/consultancy work. ==Variants==