Czech government approves $2.7-billion plan to acquire 246 armoured vehicles from Sweden
FILE - Defense Minister of Czech Republic Jana Cernochova answers questions to media after signing an air policing treaty at an airshow in Malacky, Slovakia, on Aug. 27, 2022. The Czech government approved a Defense Ministry plan on Wednesday May 24, 2023, to acquire 246 CV90 armoured vehicles as part of a massive modernisation of the military amid the Russian war in Ukraine. Cernochova said the deal to get the infantry fighting vehicles made by Sweden’s BAE Systems Hägglunds is worth 59.7 billion Czech crowns ($2.7 billion). (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government approved a Defense Ministry plan on Wednesday to acquire 246 CV90 armoured combat vehicles as part of a massive modernisation of the military amid the Russian war against Ukraine.
Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said the deal to get the infantry fighting vehicles made by Sweden’s BAE Systems Hägglunds AB is worth 59.7 billion Czech crowns ($2.7 billion).
The ministry signed the deal with the Swedish side on Wednesday.
Cernochova said the first CV90s should be delivered in 2026 and all of them by 2030.
In a statement, Sweden’s Defense Minister Pål Jonson said he was ”convinced that combat vehicle 90 is the right choice for the Czech Republic.”
According to the website of BAE Systems Hägglunds, there are currently 15 variants of the CV90 in service in seven countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands.
Czech authorities also announced they would negotiate with the German government over a possible deal to acquire German-made Leopard 2A8 tanks.
The Czech military has been using modernized versions of the Soviet-era T-72 tanks and will receive 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany as compensation after they gave Ukraine dozens of T-72 tanks.
The Czech have been also negotiating with the U.S. side to acquire 24 F-35 fighter jets but no deal has yet been approved.