Czech Defence News of the Week (30th – 6th September 2019)

Czech Air Force’s NATO Baltic Air Policing mission officially started. - The Ministry of Defence unilaterally withdrew from the purchase contract for 14,500 helmets offered by STV Group. - Around 500 Czech soldiers and approximately 250 soldiers from the armies of the Slovak Republic, Hungary, Germany, United Kingdom and United States of America joined the Ample Strike 2019 international military exercise. - The Ministries of Defence of the Czech and Slovak Republics prepared a Declaration on a Common Procedure for Testing, Qualifying and Certifying the L-39NG Training System. - On 4th and 5th September, a meeting of the Chiefs of General Staff of the V4 Group countries took place in Štiřín near Prague.

• On Monday, 2^nd September, Czech Minister of Defence Lubomír Metnar and his Estonian counterpart, Jüri Luik, attended the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission at the Ämari Air Base in Estonia. Taking over the operational task of guarding the Baltic airspace, whose countries do not have their own supersonic air force, from the Royal Air Force is the culmination of several months of preparation for more than seventy Czech soldiers. Members of the Army of the Czech Republic have been in full readiness since 1^st September.

See also: Czech Army’s Modernization Projects: JAS-39 Gripen

• The Ministry of Defence unilaterally withdrew from the purchase contract for 14,500 helmets at the price of CZK 63 million. This is because the helmets offered by STV Group company did not pass troop tests in July for the fourth time. The company succeeded in the tender in May 2018 thanks to the lowest bid price of 7,100 CZK per piece. A price that experts pondered as unrealistic. Competitive offers ranged from 11,500-16,500 crowns.

• Around 500 Czech soldiers and approximately 250 soldiers from the armies of the Slovak Republic, Hungary, Germany, United Kingdom and United States of America join the Ample Strike 2019 (AMSE19) international military exercise from 2^nd to 13^th September. The aim of the exercise is joint training of forward air controllers and flight crews to support land unit operations in a multinational environment, including interoperability and standardization screening. An integral part of the exercise is also the verification of the ability of the host country to provide support to foreign units, the so-called Host Nation Support.

See also: Ample Strike 2018 – International Exercise in Czech Republic

• The Ministries of Defence of the Czech and Slovak Republics prepared a Declaration on a Common Procedure for Testing, Qualifying and Certifying the L-39NG Training System. The document was signed on behalf of the Czech side by Deputy Director for Defence Policy and Strategy, Radomír Jahoda, and for Slovak side by General Director of the Modernization Section - National Armaments Director Colonel Vladimír Kavický. Under the European Defence Industry Development Program (EDIDP), the European Commission accepts applications for grants for major projects. In this context, an international consortium of companies led by AERO Vodochody has developed and submitted a project for the L-39NG training system. Expression of support by at least two EU Member States is one of the criteria for submitting projects under EDIDP. This condition is fulfilled by the signed Czech-Slovak Declaration.

See also: Aero Vodochody – producer of famous trainers (founded 1919)

• On 4^th and 5^th September, a meeting of the Chiefs of General Staff of the V4 Group countries took place in Štiřín near Prague. It was an initial military meeting within the Czech Presidency of the Visegrad Four (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary). The event was opened by the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic, General Aleš Opata, together with his first Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Jaromír Zůna and the Director of the Department of Capability Planning, Major General Jaromír Alan. The Slovak delegation was led by General Daniel Zmeko, the Polish delegation by Lieutenant General Rajmund T. Andrzejczak and the Hungarian delegation by Lieutenant General Ferenc Korom. Generals agreed to create a plan of activities of the expert working group for the V4 Combat Group (Visegrad Battlegroup), further agreed on the creation of cross-border training areas of the V4 countries for joint training of the V4 Air Force and the operational deployment of the V4 Air Force. They approved a joint training plan for 2019 to 2023. They identified cyber defence as one of the important areas of military cooperation within the V4. The last topic of the discussion of the military representatives of the Visegrad Four was an exchange of views on the joint operational impact of the V4 countries in the context of NATO / EU response to the security environment.