The Czech army will be armed with new self-propelled guns. Yesterday, September 14, the portal defbrief.com It was reported that the Czech government officially approved the purchase of Caesar self-propelled howitzers from the French company Nexter.
According to Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar, the contract signing ceremony will take place before the end of September. As previously reported, 52 Caesar self-propelled guns will be purchased for the Czech Armed Forces, complete with auxiliary equipment and weapons.
Caesar self-propelled artillery mount on the Tatra T815 chassis
Image source: fmi.dk
The deal is estimated at $400 million. France will supply four ready-made howitzers, after which the assembly will be carried out on the territory of the Czech Republic. The Czech CSG group will supply cabins and chassis for howitzers, the total participation of the Czech industry in the project will be about 40%.
Earlier, the Czech Defense Ministry planned to modernize the ShKh vz. 77 Dana self-propelled guns in service, but in early 2018 it became known that the program was canceled. Instead of upgrading the old self-propelled guns for the army, they planned to buy a batch of new howitzers that will meet NATO standards.
The CAESAR self-propelled gun entered service with the French army in 2003. Caliber-155 mm, firing range - up to 42 km, ammunition-18 rounds. Weight-17.7 tons, engine-295 hp, speed-up to 100 km / h, wheel formula-6×6, crew-5 people. Thanks to the modular design, CAESAR is actively exported in variants with various types of chassis.