Nearly two years after an earlier deal was nixed, the Czech Republic has reached a $125 million government-to-government deal with Israel for the procurement of eight ELM-2084 Iron Dome multimission radars (MMRs). Under the agreement, signed on December 5, the MMRs will be delivered to the Czech Defense Ministry between 2021 and 2023. Once in service, the new radars will be interoperable with Czech and NATO command and control systems.
The ELM-2084 MMRs are used for two of Israel’s key air defense systems – the Iron Dome and David’s Sling – as well as the Barak missile system. Produced by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) subsidiary Elta Systems, the radars serve as a high-accuracy medium/long-range mobile radar system capable of detecting an array of targets, including drones.
These radars have been procured by the Czech Republic to meet its Mobile Air Defense Radar (MADR) program requirement. This will see the Army of the Czech Republic’s aging Soviet-legacy radar platforms, including the 1970s-legacy P-37 Bar Lock 2-D analog radar and PRV-17 altimeters built in the 1980s, phased out in favor of the ELM-2084s. As part of the deal, offset work dispensed to Czech industry forms 30 percent of the contract’s value.
Today, the International Defense Cooperation Directorate of IMoD (SIBAT), has signed an agreement with the Czech Ministry of Defense, awarding Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) ELTA, a contract for the acquisition of eight ELM-2084 ‘Iron Dome’ Multi-Mission Radars (MMR).
— Ministry of Defense (@Israel_MOD) December 5, 2019
The contract signing brings to a close a deal the Czech Republic began working on back in 2014.
The Czech Defense Ministry made the official announcement of the proposed purchase of the Israeli radars on December 14, 2016. However, former Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky postponed signing the CZD3.6 billion ($175 million) contract in anticipation of his removal from the defense minister role.
His successor, Karla Slechtova, then announced in March 2018 that her ministry would not sign the contract for eight ELM-2084 MMRs due to questions regarding their interoperability with the NATO air defense network. Defense Minister Slechtova instead ordered the military police to launch an investigation into the pending purchase.
A fresh procurement was initiated under new Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar in 2019 directly with the Israeli government.
Dan Darling is Forecast International’s director of military and defense markets. In this role, Dan oversees a team of analysts tasked with covering everything from budgeting to weapons systems to defense electronics and military aerospace. Additionally, for over 17 years Dan has, at various times, authored the International Military Markets reports for Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Dan's work has been cited in Defense News, Real Clear Defense, Asian Military Review, Al Jazeera, and Financial Express, among others, and he has also contributed commentary to The Diplomat, The National Interest and World Politics Review. He has been quoted in Arabian Business, the Financial Times, Flight International, The New York Times, Bloomberg and National Defense Magazine.
In addition, Dan has made guest appearances on the online radio show Midrats and on The Media Line, as well as The Red Line Podcast, plus media appearances on France 24 and World Is One News (WION).
