The Czech defence ministry announced this order on December 14.
According to the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, all 10 howitzers should be delivered to the Czech armed forces by the end of 2026.
However, this is an additional order to the basic contract from September 2020, when the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic signed a contract with defence industry company Nexter Systems for 52 CAESAR 155 mm self-propelled howitzers.
Therefore, the summarized value of the Czech Republic’s order for a total the 62 howitzers is over EUR 450 million.
The CEASAR 155 mm self-propelled howitzer will be the new main artillery system in the armed forces of the Czech Republic. It will replace the outdated DANA 152mm howitzer, which does not meet NATO’s calibre standards and has only a 20 km range.
The Czech defence industry plays a key role in the entire programme of artillery forces modernization. All CAESAR 155 mm guns are to be integrated with the 8×8 chassis produced by the Czech company Tatra (a subsidiary of the Czechoslovak Group). Only the four first howitzers are to be produced at Nexter Systems in France. The assembly of the remaining ones is to take place in the Czech industry.
Furthermore, participation of the Czech defence industry in this programme is estimated at 40 per cent of the value of the entire orders. For example, the Retia company will develop a communication and fire control system.
The armed forces of the Czech Republic will also receive with the 155mm artillery ammunition for the CAESAR self-propelled howitzers. It is to be produced by another Czech defence industry company, STV Group.
