Slovakia and Israel sign Agreement on new 3D radars for SVK Armed Forces, final contract brings savings of €11.7m and guarantees SVK defence industry's stake in this project

New, cutting-edge and reliable Israeli 3D Air Defence (AD) Radar Systems will enter into service with the Slovak Armed Forces. The Agreement with the total agreement price of €148.2m incl. VAT (€123.5m excl. VAT) for the procurement of 17 pieces of 3D Medium (M), Short (S), Very Short (VS) Range Air Defence Radar Systems, including all radar assemblies and subassemblies, was signed today by signatories of the Slovak Ministry of Defence (SMOD) and the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMOD) in Bratislava. The new 3D radar systems will be delivered in stages from April 2023 to 2025, while the payment of the total agreement amount will be made in four installments from 2021 to 2024.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “This marks a significant day for the security and defence of Slovakia. Given the alarming technical condition and lifespan of the in-service radars, the new radar systems for our SVK Air Force are more of a necessity. That's why I'm immensely pleased that the new equipment, which has only been discussed about for decades, will finally become a reality. Even with €6.89m in savings against the forecast total agreement price and with the Slovak defence industry's stake of €37.05m excl. VAT in the project being actually anchored in the Agreement.” As the Minister added, the price of the radar systems also covers additional devices that were not originally part of the official offer. For the MOD, this delivers further savings of €4.88m. The said devices include 17 pcs of power generators, 10 pcs of isolation transformers, and 1 pc of a remote control. The value of total savings comes to €11,777,600 against the original plan.

Among the first to be signed were the agreements on the provision of industrial cooperation between ELTA Systems Ltd, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and Letecké opravovne Trenčín a.s. (LOTN), Slovak MOD-owned Aircraft Repair Joint Stock Company. In this way, the Ministry of Defence wants to emphasise its support for the SVK defence industry. This will take on a role in the production of antenna elements, power generators, levelling jacks and pedestal rotation platforms for the 3D RL radar systems, as well as integrating them into the Command and Control (C2) systems of the Slovak Armed Forces. With the Agreement thus construed, this will mean not only generating financial profit for SVK companies, coupled with employment support, but also securing the acquisition of new capabilities. LOTN's total turnover is planned at €27.6m. Rather than providing only a servicing programme, LOTN is set to roll out its first manufacturing programme.

The signing of this Agreement follows from a fair competition with focus on transparency of the entire process, including the publication of the competition conditions and assessment criteria, while relying on the professional expertise of the MOD evaluation panel. The Agreement was signed in line with the SVK Government's decision No. 25/2021 of 13 January 2021 and No. 136/2021 of 12 March 2021 following approval by the SVK Ministry of Finance.

The procurement of the new radar systems is seen as both inevitable and instrumental to securing the inviolability of SVK airspace and the collective defence of NATO Member States within the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS), which is tasked with protecting the North Atlantic area, its populations and armed forces against any air or missile threats or attacks. The Slovak Air Force will operate the new 3D radar systems at least for the next 20 years.

The Agreement was officially signed today during a signing ceremony by Director of the International Defence Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) at IMOD Brig Gen (Res) Yair Kulas, representing the State of Israel, and National Armaments Director at SMOD Jozef Zekucia, representing the Slovak Republic. The Agreements on the provision of industrial cooperation between Israel's IAI ELTA Systems Ltd and Slovakia's Letecké opravovne Trenčín a.s. (LOTN) were today signed by General Manager of ELTA Systems Ltd Eyal Shapira and Director General of LOTN Ľubomír Galko.