IDET
24.-26.5. 2023

The Ministry of Defence plans to spend in a big way this year. They want to ramp up orders worth more than 22 billion Crowns the year. According to a list of major contracts for 2016, which the MoD sent to the government for approval and which is available to our newspaper, army buyers will begin by purchasing twelve helicopters for nearly nine billion, 42 six-wheel armoured vehicles Titus 2.2 billion or eight 3D MADR radars for three billion this year.

The Ministry has not been making any large orders for an extended period of time, because the budget was barely enough to cover the acute needs. Last year, however, the government committed to annually adding several billion to the military because of the worsening security situation.

This year it received over four billion extra and has now more than 47 billion available; in the next two years the military budget should increase sharply by six to seven billion crowns annually

Pandur and Titus from Kopřivnice

"After long years of uncertainty, the army has been given a clear budgetary framework and the government approved the concept of development. Now it is necessary to initiate gradual modernization of armament and other equipment," told Právo the Defence Minister Martin Stropnický (ANO).

The Ministry wants to make the biggest purchases via an inter-governmental agreement system where the contracts with armorers are guaranteed by their governments. They wish to acquire helicopters and radars this way. In the case of helicopters, the ministry plans an expenditure of 8.6 billion crowns for 12 multipurpose, twin-engine helicopters that can carry up to ten people and would be armed with machine guns and rockets.

The Ministry had already contacted the governments of the U.S., France and Italy, as well as their domestic producers. Specifically, the US firm Sikorsky, which offers famous Black Hawk helicopters, or the US company Bell - soldiers would be interested in the UH-1Y Venom type. The Italian company Augusta Westland offers AW139 and the French aerospace giant Airbus can deliver two helicopters: a lighter type H145M or the heavier AS565 Panther.

The Ministry expects to send a request this autumn and sign the agreement with the successful tenderer and their government a year later. The first helicopters could be delivered to the soldiers in 2019.

To purchase radars, the defence department has earmarked six billion crowns; a half should be spent on the actual radars and the other half for 20 years of servicing. Last week the government has already approved that the ministry may address British, Israeli, Swedish and French Governments, the British manufacturer BAE Systems, Israel's ELTA, Swedish SAAB and the Franco-American company Thales Raytheon Systems.

In the case of radars, the government wants to sign the contract this autumn, with the first radars arriving by the turn of 2017 and 2018.

The department also wants to start talks with the Czechoslovak Group company (formerly Excalibur) at the end of the year; they should produce 36 vehicles of military communication and six Titus command vehicles. They are French armoured vehicles on Tatra 6x6 chassis; the ministry envisages 2.2 billion Crowns for their acquisition.

"The Titus vehicles should be produced in a new Tatra Defence Vehicle plant in Kopřivnice," Tatra spokesman Andrej Čírtek told Právo.

Tatra has had good times with the Czech army in the recent years, because they are also already gearing up for the production of 20 Pandur command-staff vehicles for 1.3 billion in Kopřivnice. This contract was approved by the government already last year. The Czechoslovak Group have an exclusive contract for the production of Pandurs with the U.S. company General Dynamics.

Furthermore, the Defence Ministry plans to have three L-159 single-aircraft remodelled to two-seaters in Aero Vodochody, costing 437 million. The servicing of the L-159 and L-39 aircraft for 1.7 billion crowns will probably also go to Vodochody.

Hospitals as well

The department wants to spend over half a billion on eight Swedish RBS-70NG anti-aircraft sets. A similar amount is earmarked for the acquisition of four airport radars. The Army also wants to buy ammunition for over 610 million this year.

This year, the ministry also wants to ramp up the completion of the Military Hospital in Brno. This activity should come to 873 million and create up to 45 new hospital beds, intended mainly for war veterans.

Less than a billion - 899 million – are on the spending plan of the defence ministry for cleaning up of military sites in the next four years.

Author: Oldřich Danda, Právo
Source: novinky.cz