As reported by the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic announced on November 5, 2021, none of the submitted proposals for the previously announced tender for a new BMP for the Czech Armed Forces does not meet all the requirements and, accordingly, cannot be considered in the future. In total, three companies submitted proposals as a replacement for the outdated BMP-2:
- BAE Systems offered CV90 BMP;
- General Dynamics European Land Systems - Ascod BMP;
- Rheinmetall - BMP Lynx KF41.
According to the results of the tender, it is planned to purchase 210 new infantry fighting vehicles.
Prague announced that a committee of 15 experts evaluated the proposals received. The evaluation turned out to be clearly "unambiguous and unanimous": "Proposals from all three participants cannot be evaluated on the basis of the submitted documents, since none of them fulfills the requirements of the customer. The identified shortcomings are related, for example, to missing or inaccurate information about the technical characteristics of the proposed military equipment or incomplete information about cooperation with the Czech defense industry," the Czech Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Additionally, it was reported that the companies involved will be informed on the same day about the conclusion of the expert commission, and the proposals will no longer be considered and evaluated. As sources suggest, apparently, a decision on further actions has not yet been made. The terms were not disclosed.
The estimated cost of 210 BMP was initially estimated at 1.9 billion. euro. At least 40% of them should be provided by Czech companies as added value, primarily by the state-owned company VOP CZ. Delivery of the first BMP was expected from 2022. With production rates from 5 to 10 BMP per month, production was scheduled to be completed in 2027. The program has been out of schedule several times, and is now probably postponed for a more indefinite period.
Based on the materials of the resource soldat-und-technik.de
