Prague, March 22 (CTK) – The Czech Defence Ministry will start selecting the deliverer of over 200 full-track armoured personnel carriers for a bid worth 53 billion crowns in the summer, Defence Minister Karla Slechtova (ANO) told journalists on Thursday.
Slechtova said she wanted to know the winner of the tender by the end of this year or the beginning of the next year at the latest.
This will be the biggest tender the Defence Ministry has ever put up.
By 2026, the Defence Ministry wants to spend over 150 billion crowns. Next year, this will include the purchase of new assault rifles with grenade launchers worth about seven billion crowns.
The Czech military wants to replace the old Soviet-made BVP-2 APCs. It has roughly 400 of them.
By the summer, Slechtova would like to have a detailed specification of the purchase finished by the military.
She said more than one deliverer would be addressed.
In the summer, the military was checking five vehicles from four manufacturers in the Libava military training grounds.
There was the consortium PSM, a joint venture of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall Landsysteme, which makes the Puma vehicles, the Swedish-British CV90 from the BAE Systems, the ASCOD from General Dynamics European Land Systems and the Lynx KF31 from the firm Rheinmetall.
Deputy Defence Minister Daniel Kostoval has said the military will buy at least 210 APCs. The final number will also depend on the price.
The Defence Ministry also wants to buy new equipment for 1.5-1.7 billion crowns.
Slechtova said she was planning to give a go-ahead to the purchase of reconnaissance vehicles for chemical warfare worth over five billion crowns.
The military is also to receive new ammunition for about 1.6 billion crowns.
By the summer, the Defence Ministry would like to know the deliverer of 12 multipurpose helicopters.
In the years to come, the Czech military will form another regiment. Slechtova said.
At present, the Czech military has two combat brigades, the 7th mechanised and 4th rapid deployment brigades.
Slechtova said the 7th mechanised brigade had obsolete equipment.
The new regiment may be formed in about three years, she added.
