Czech Republic set to be RBS 70 NG launch customer

[Zarvan]

A soldier from the Army of the Czech Republic's 252nd Anti-Aircraft Section fires a Saab RBS 70 NG SAM system. Source: ACR
Key Points

• The Army of the Czech Republic is planning to buy the RBS 70 NG SAM system
• Firing trials were conducted by the ACR in late October

The Czech Republic is planning to purchase the RBS 70 NG short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system from Saab, potentially making the country the first operator of the system.

The Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) conducted firing trials of the system at the end of October, with the new SAM planned to replace the country's Soviet-era 9K35 Strela-10M (SA-13 'Gopher') self-propelled SAM.

Firing trials of the RBS 70 NG were conducted by the ACR's 252nd Anti-Aircraft Section at the Boletice Military Training Area near Cesky Krumlov.

Speaking at the firing trials on 29 October, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Suchy, commander of the unit said the RBS 70 NG would replace the Strela-10M "in accordance with the planned development and maintenance of ground air defence capability within the Army of the Czech Republic". He added that "the first unit should be converted in the period 2018-2020, the others in the period 2020-2025".

The ACR is already familiar with the Saab SAM, having received the original RBS 70 command line-of-sight (CLOS) laser-guided system in 2007 to replace its 9K32M Strela-2M (SA-7b 'Grail') man portable air defence systems (MANPADS). In total the country purchased 16 RBS 70 launchers and around 100 missiles.

The NG is a significant improvement over the older system, featuring both a new sight and new missiles. The new NG sight is lighter than the original and for the first time includes an integrated thermal imager (rather than a clip-on imager), an auto tracker for improved aiming/guidance, 3D visual cuing and an improved acquisition and engagement system to shorten the engagement sequence. The NG version has also been designed to use the new fourth generation Bolide 8 km-range all-target interceptor.

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Czech Republic set to be RBS 70 NG launch customer - IHS Jane's 360