TSAMTO, January 18. The Israeli Defense Ministry will supply 17 radars produced by the Israeli company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to the Slovak military Department under an agreement worth about 150 million euros.
According to Israel Aerospace Industries, the Government of Slovakia approved the recommendation of the Ministry of Defense of the country on the purchase of 17 radars. The agreement, negotiated by the Israel Defense Ministry's Office for International Defense Cooperation (SIBAT), includes the transfer of technology and know-how to Slovakia, as well as industrial cooperation. The radar components will be produced in cooperation with Slovak defense enterprises under the leadership of the IAI and the Ministry of Defense.
Israeli-made radars will interact with NATO systems. In recent years, similar systems have been incorporated into the command and control systems of several Alliance countries.
The MMR radar, which is manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries ' (IAI) subsidiary, ELTA Systems, has been tested in combat conditions and has extensive operational experience in Israel and other countries around the world. The station provides detection and classification of air threats, assesses the degree of their danger and provides information that allows weapons to simultaneously neutralize several threats.
According to the company, in addition to Israel, about 130 MMR radars were sold to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, the United States and Canada.
As reported by TSAMTO, the Slovak government announced a tender for the supply of 17 mobile three-coordinate radars in early 2015. The goal of the project was to replace obsolete analog P-37s by 2020. The purchase price was estimated at 60 million euros ($74.8 million). Four manufacturing companies, including Thales-Raytheon, BAE Systems, Saab and IAI Elta Systems, submitted their proposals to the Slovak Ministry of Defense, but none of them was found to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces.
In the following years, the Ministry of Defense chose various procurement formats and potential suppliers, but for various reasons, the project was never implemented.
In July 2020, the Ministry of defence of Slovakia has sent requests for the supply of new three-coordinate radar for all of the country representatives of the governments of France, the Netherlands, Israel, Hungary, Poland, UK, USA, Spain, Italy and Turkey, who are able to supply the necessary the station and has expressed its intention to participate in the contest. The listed participants were required to submit their proposals no later than September 30, 2020.
In the request, the Ministry of Defense invited the governments of the selected countries to submit a comprehensive application for the replacement of all types of radars, including 6 medium-range units, 5 short-range units and 6 short-range units, as well as a separate proposal for each type of three-coordinate radar. The request suggested the need for the participation of the Slovak defense industry in the process of production, delivery and repair of the radar. The estimated cost of the program is 155.1 million euros. It is planned that deliveries will begin in 2025.
In December 2020, the Slovak Ministry of Defense selected five countries as finalists for further negotiations: France, Israel, the United States, Hungary and the United Kingdom.
Presumably, the company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) offered the ELM-2084 radar, which is also ordered by the Czech Armed Forces, BAE Systems together with Saab – the Commander SL and Giraffe AMB radar, and Thales – the Ground Master radar.
In the end, the Israeli proposal was preferred.
The new radars should replace the stations in service with the Slovak Armed Forces, the service life of the vast majority of which has expired. The radars will provide control of the country's airspace and transfer data to form a unified picture of the situation in the airspace to the Joint Air and Missile Defense System of NATO.