According to Práva, they have a heavy head in the ministry with a new acquisition, because the army wants to buy a number of accessories with machine guns – which will cost only a quarter of the price – such as optics, night vision devices or thermal imaging.
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“We want to sign a framework agreement for the purchase of up to 950 Minimi machine guns and accessories. The purchase is connected because it was a request of the user, ie the army, “Lubor Koudelka, Deputy for Armaments, told Práva.
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All in one order
According to the armourers, however, the contract is too complex and there is a risk that the Ministry of Defense will have to cancel it several times as in the past and announce it again. “They put it all into one order, it’s so recombined that it can’t be fulfilled, and together it will be very expensive,” a source well-informed about the entire purchase told Práva.
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The army has already adjusted some conditions under pressure from suppliers, but it still insists on merging the contract. “The given procedure is chosen due to the better possibilities of the supplier to harmonize the individual parts of the set so that it meets the requirements of the army,” Magdalena Dvořáková, a spokeswoman for the General Staff, told Práva. “This will prevent a situation where we will only have a new version of the weapon without the appropriate components,” added Dvořáková.
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At the same time, difficulties with component suppliers have already complicated the purchase of 47 weapon sets. In 2011, the ministry first stopped purchasing 39 million due to alleged overpricing and commissioned the alliance agency NSPA to buy machine guns directly from the Belgian manufacturer FN Herstal. But the purchase got stuck due to licensing procedures for the supply of laser sights from the US and the weapons were not delivered until 2015.
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Another reason why gunsmiths do not want the contract too much is also the fact that the defense in the planned contract counts on a high penalty. In one day of delay, it should be half a percent of the price. According to the president of the Association of the Defense and Security Industry Jiří Hynek, such a penalty is non-standard.
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“Such interest on arrears is contrary to good morals and is not common in the world, especially when there are several subcontractors in the contract,” Hynek told Práva. He added that the fact that the Ministry of Defense charges various penalties for various suppliers in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 percent is also striking.
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The defense wanted to sign a number of important contracts worth tens of billions this year, but due to a pandemic, the negotiations are worth it. The biggest purchase is the replacement of infantry fighting vehicles. According to the original plan, the defense wanted to sign a contract for the acquisition of 210 BVP for 52 billion this year. After the first wave of covide in the spring, however, everything shifted in the autumn.
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These days, three companies that offer vehicles were to demonstrate functional machines in the Libava military area, but this test was postponed to the beginning of the year.
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“We have accumulated a delay of about six months, so we expect to sign the contract by the end of the middle of next year,” Koudelka told Práva before the exams were moved. It is therefore clear that the signing of such an important contract will take place just before the parliamentary elections, which are to take place in October. And the question is whether the government is committed to doing so.
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The defense has also negotiated other large purchases, such as the purchase of 52 French works by Caesar for five billion crowns. “The ambition is to sign a contract by the end of the year or at the beginning of the year, and next year the delivery of the first three pieces should be,” said Koudelka. But even in this case, the schedule is jeopardized.
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