Prague, Nov 29 (CTK) – The Czech military should buy drones, for monitoring and later combat operations, President Milos Zeman, who is the supreme commander of Czech armed forces, told a command meeting on Tuesday.
The army should not hesitate with the acquisitions of the unmanned aircraft, he said.
Like a military without tanks was not adequate in the past, a contemporary military without drones will not be adequate in future, Zeman said.
He said the Czech military should buy surveillance drones and, after mastering this technology, combat drones as well.
Zeman repeatedly recommended that the army start using drones.
He told the command that he fully supports the effort to gradually increase the defence spending to 2 percent of GDP, which the Czech Republic promised to do at its NATO entry.
The country also pledged that at least 20 percent of the defence spending would go to investment.
Zeman said the military should consider its long-term investment strategy.
Many “tragedies in acquisitions” occurred in the Czech military in the 1990s and the 2000s, he said, mentioning the purchases of the L-159 combat aircraft, the CASA transport aircraft and the armoured vehicles.
