Prague, Nov 11 (CTK) – The Czech military is expecting years of cornucopia after a long time of budget cuts, with the biggest purchases planned in its air force, daily Pravo writes yesterday, referring to the Defence Ministry draft budget for next year, available to the paper.
The defence budget is to reach 47.7 billion crowns. Its biggest slice will be spent on the lease of 14 Gripen fighters, some 1.7 billion crowns annually, Pravo writes.
In all, the military will pay 21 billion crowns for the lease, it adds.
In addition, the military is planning to upgrade the aircraft. During the next two years, it wants to buy four laser systems for 325 million crowns with a view to increasing the “capability to identify the air targets when there are bad meteorological conditions and at night,” Pravo writes.
Large sums will be swallowed by the pilot training. This year, the Defence Ministry concluded a large, five-contract with the state-owned LOM Praha company for 1.86 billion crowns, it adds.
Next year, 410 million will be spent from it. The pilots are trained at the Z-142, L-39 and L-410 aircraft and the Mi-2 and Mi-17 helicopters, Pravo writes.
The Defence Ministry will pay some more hundreds of millions of crowns to the LOM Praha state-run firm for the servicing of its Russian-made Mi helicopters. In all, it will spend 600 million crowns on the four-year contract, it adds.
Moreover, LOM Praha will make general repairs of the helicopters for 770 million crowns, Pravo writes.
The Defence Ministry is planning to pay 1.5 billion crowns for the purchase of 12 new helicopters in 2017. One year later, it is to pay another 3.2 billion.
The Czech Republic has received preliminary offers from the U.S. Bell and Sikorsky companies and from some firms from Italy and France, Pravo writes.
The Defence Ministry wants to continue with the cooperation with the company Aero Vodochody, owned by the Penta investment group, it adds.
The several-year servicing of the L-159 fighters and L-39 training planes will cost 850 million crowns in all.
Next year, the military will pay almost 100 million crowns on the repairs to Aero, Pravo writes.
In 2016, the military will pay another 529 million crowns on the remake of three redundant L-159 aircraft into double control machines, it adds.
The Defence Ministry is to pay 1.2 billion crowns for the seven-year servicing of the Sokol helicopters. Next year alone, it will pay 258 million crowns to its Polish manufacturer PZL Swidnik from Agusta-Westland.
In the years to come, the military will also pay 380 million crowns for the servicing of its L-410 transport aircraft. Next year alone, this will be 84 million crowns.
The military also wants to renew its radar equipment. Next year, it is to start purchasing the MADR radars for 3.6 billion crowns.
The air force will start repairing its airfields. It wants to spend 166 million crowns on the reconstruction of the runways at the Kbely airport on the Prague outskirts.
The military will build a repair room for 244 million crowns at the helicopter base in Namest nad Oslavou, south Moravia, Pravo writes.
Next year, the military will also start dealing with the purchase of 20 Pandur command and communications armoured personnel carriers for 1.2 billion crowns, five shop vehicles for 181 million crowns and five wreckers for 238 million crowns, it adds.
($1 = 25.249 crowns)
