On 5th December an intergovernmental Czech-Israeli agreement on the purchase of eight pieces of Mobile Air Defence Radar (MADR) was signed in Prague. Their delivery will end the more than three-year story of the acquisition project, which has undergone a series of turbulences. The Israeli company ELTA is the manufacturer of the radars and the Czech defence industry will be involved in the project at 30% of the value.
Elta's main partners are going to be Retia, a.s. and the Military Technical Institute.
MADR radars, which will replace the obsolete Soviet production technology (P-37 radars and PRV-17 altimeters), will provide the Czech Republic with an overview of the air situation at altitudes of 100 to 3000 meters and create the prerequisites for ensuring active air defense in conjunction with the 2K12 KUB complex. Part of the contract is to provide logistic support for a 20-year technical lifetime. Among the technical requirements there was the range of min. 250 km, height ceiling 30 km, azimuth of 360 °, or installation on the Tatra T-815 chassis.
See also: Czech Army’s Modernization Projects: Mobile Air Defence Radars
Selected ELTA EL / M-2084 is one of the most powerful radars of its kind, and has been operationally tested and is fully compatible with NATO systems. At the beginning of 2018, the last characteristic was questioned however.
Three years ago, besides ELTA, the Swedish SAAB and the French-American company Thales Raytheon Systems, and originally BAE Systems, were also interested in the tender. The winner was announced at the end of 2016. However, the Minister of Defence, Karla Šlechtová, refused to sign the prepared contract in the spring of 2018. In January 2018, the National Cyber Security Office (NÚKIB) did not approve the documentation for the purchase of radars, and without certification it was not possible to connect the radars to the NATO systems. In a contract worth 3.5 billion crowns, the Inspection of the Minister of Defence found "extremely serious findings" and the Minister turned to the Military Police. The possibility of linking radars to NATO systems was confirmed in June 2018.
See also: Czech Army to purchase Vera-NG passive radars
“The purchase of MADR radars is one of our key modernization projects. Czech soldiers urgently need this equipment. It will end our dependence on obsolete Russian devices and at the same time we will obtain a top-notch and combat-proven system from our important strategic partner,” Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar said. The new radars will be continuously delivered and put into operation by 2023.