Author: TDV|Caption: KOVS communications vehicle's operators
Last year, the Czech Government approved the acquisition of 62 TITUS armored vehicles. In the near future, the Army of the Czech Republic will receive a completely new wheeled platform, which, after decades of decline in the Czech arms industry in this area, is again the result of the work of Czech designers and manufacturers. TITUS belongs to the category of MRAV (Multi-Role Armored Vehicle) vehicles, which are characterized by strong armor and a high degree of crew protection, but at the same time, despite their weight, they have very good mobility and passability through difficult terrain.
In June 2019, the Ministry of Defense awarded a contract for 62 TITUS (Tactical Infantry Transport & Utility System) armored vehicles on Tatra chassis for the Czech Army, as the Wheeled Armored Command Post Vehicle (KOVVS), Wheeled Armored Communications Vehicle (KOVS) and Fire Support Coordination Element (FEMP). The contract represents an amount of around 6 billion crowns and the army will specifically receive 6 pieces of KOVVS together with six Staff Workplaces, 36 pieces of KOVS vehicles and 20 pieces of FEMP version vehicles for its needs. After decades, the Czech Army will once again include in its armament a wheeled armored vehicle created in the Czech Republic and on a Czech chassis. So far, the last armored wheeled equipment developed and manufactured in our territory with a domestic chassis, which came into service of the Czechoslovak or Czech Armed Forces, were OT-64 SKOT Armored Personnel Carriers and DANA self-propelled howitzers dating from the 60s and 70s.
See also: Czech Army’s Modernization Projects: Wheeled Command Post Vehicles
The beginnings of the project in which the TITUS vehicle was created date back to 2010. The basic version of TITUS (Armored Personnel Carrier) is the result of cooperation between the Tatra Trucks company from Kopřivnice and the French corporation Nexter Systems. In the form of an armored personnel carrier, TITUS was presented to the professional public for the first time at the DSEI trade fair in 2013, but development continued. The latest special versions intended for the Czech Armed Forces are already the result of cooperation between several Czech companies. The main system integrator of the project is the Kopřivnice company Tatra Defense Vehicle (TDV), which is in charge of the development of special superstructures, their production and assembly of entire vehicles. The carmaker Tatra Trucks will supply chassis platforms, the Pardubice company Retia will design electronic systems and ensure their integration into individual types of vehicles. Electronic systems include, for example, IT components, communication means for covert and non-covert voice and data connections, diagnostic systems, navigation systems, etc. Eldis will be the military's final supplier.
TDV will produce a total of 7 prototypes, one of which will be designed for ballistic and explosive tests, the other will pass production, control and army tests. Deliveries of serial vehicles for the Army are planned for 2022 and 2023. In the first phase, the French partner Nexter Systems, which offers TITUS vehicles on foreign markets, will also participate in the production of vehicles. In the next phases, the production of superstructures and vehicle assembly and the integration of special equipment and electronics will be fully under the responsibility of the Kopřivnice company TDV. It is currently producing special command-staff and communications versions of Pandur II vehicles for the Czech Armed Forces and has started production of armored cabins for Tatra vehicles. Thanks to this and the TITUS project, TDV is thus transformed from a construction and design company with service capacities into a full-fledged production company. In this context, TDV will also gradually purchase new production technologies.
See also: Tatra – trucks and innovative chassis platforms for military vehicles
TITUSes in special versions will perform support tasks for the Czech Land Forces brigades and will replace several obsolete systems that are installed on various platforms. In most cases, these are also unprotected vehicles in the form of lorries. TITUS will thus bring the unification of the vehicle fleet, and above all a much higher level of protection of crews and electronic and communication equipment important for the operation of the units. Thanks to their concept and Tatra chassis, TITUS vehicles have very good driving characteristics, both in difficult terrain and on ordinary roads, and they have no restrictions even for normal road traffic.