Czechs To Buy Weapons, Modernize Gear

[Zarvan]

Michal Cizek/AFP

Several hundred people hold banners and Czech national flags during an anti-immigrants rally on Oct. 28 in Prague.

WARSAW — Czech Minister of Defense Martin Stropnicky announced the ministry will urgently purchase new weapons and modernize its existing gear, reported local news agency CTK.

The procurements are intended to increase the Czech armed forces’ capabilities to secure the country’s border against the inflow of migrants from the Middle East, and ensure the Czech military is prepared to participate in joint NATO activities, Stropnicky said.

"The reason behind this was, in particular, the deteriorating global security situation which represents a threat to the security of the Czech Republic and Czech citizens. After a thorough evaluation of the current risks and threats, the ministry decided to make an effective and adequate response [by making these acquisitions]," Stropnicky said.

The procurements include armored personnel carriers, trucks, monitoring and reconnaissance systems, electronic attack prevention systems, assault rifles and grenade launchers. These will comprise 57 wheeled vehicles that will be supplied by Italy’s Iveco and Czech manufacturer Tatra.

Stropnicky said the weapons primarily will be supplied to troops from the Czech land forces, air forces and reserve units.

The acquisitions are enabled by the country’s higher defense budget for 2015. This year, Prague plans to spend 43.78 billion krona (US $1.78 billion) on the military, a 4.2 percent increase over the previous year, according to figures from the Defense Ministry.

Email: jadamowski@defensenews.com

Czechs To Buy Weapons, Modernize Gear