Defence Minister Jana Černochová visited the Headquarters of the 7th Mechanised Brigade in Hranice to review individual and heavy equipment and finetune modernisation steps with the Brigade commanding officers.
In Hranice, Minister Černochová was accompanied by the Chief of General Staff General Aleš Opata and other senior officials of the Czech Armed Forces.
During the introductory briefing, the 7th Mechanised Brigade senior officers introduced the current status of the Brigade and its subordinate components: the 71st Mechanised Battalion, 72nd Mechanised Battalion, 73rd Tank Battalion and 74th Mechanised Battalion. Deputy Commander 7th Brigade Colonel Petr Blecha briefed the Minister on the current status of equipment, facilities and especially armoured platforms.
Modernisation of the 7MechBde inventory is one of the key tasks for the near future. The Czech Armed Forces has committed to NATO Allies to build an advanced heavy armoured brigade by 2026 with its primary equipment formed by new Infantry Fighting Vehicles to replace what is still Soviet machinery.
Minister Černochová indeed reviewed the obsolete BMP-2s in several variants. “We are tackling the IFV project – that is what we are up to in the coming months. Then we will be solving the main battle tank replacement, which is an issue for the years ahead. My first trip therefore logically led to this location,“ the Minister explained. She visited HQ 7MechBde two years ago in the capacity of the Chairwoman of the Defence Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. Now she wanted to check on the progress achieved in the meantime.
“Since I have followed defence issues for many years, soldiers know that they do not have to sugarcoat anything for me and that I know the reality. I am not here to inspect on them but rather to help them,“ Minister Černochová emphasised while reviewing the equipment.
Minister on new IFVs: Clear legal analysis needed
The Czech Armed Forces regards the tender for 210 units of new Infantry Fighting Vehicles as most important in its modern history. The MoD received the bids from three potential suppliers on 1 September 2021 and the expert commission completed the assessment at the beginning of November with the conclusion that the bids could not be evaluated further because they had failed to meet all requirements. That concerned missing or inaccurate data on technical properties and incomplete information on the cooperation with the domestic industry.
Defence Minister said in this respect that none of the three potential suppliers (BAE Systems, GDELS, Rheinmetall Landsysteme) were not excluded from the tender; only their bids with quotations were turned down. “I need a clear legal analysis of what every option to be tabled will mean for the Czech Republic and for the Czech Armed Forces,” the Minister said while noting that if an incorrect would now be taken at the junction, the price tag of potential arbitrations could be high for the Czech Republic.
Honouring the fallen and visiting the youngest manoeuvre unit
Together with General Opata, the Defence Minister concluded the visit by honouring the memory of the 7th Mechanised Brigade service personnel lost their life in the line of duty. Then she headed for the Special Forces Support Centre that is based in Olomouc. The unit was formed in 2016 with the mission to provide combat and intelligence support to the 601st Special Forces Group. During its short existence, the SFSC personnel were already deployed in Afghanistan. The local barracks have recently undergone a major renovation. The Minister used the opportunity to see how the SFSC personnel cope with such aggravated conditions.
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