At today’s meeting, the Government of the Slovak Republic approved the proposal of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic for the procurement of 152 pieces of CV90 MkIV tracked armoured vehicles with a 35 mm cannon through an intergovernmental contract with the Kingdom of Sweden. These vehicles will gradually replace up to half a century of service technology of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic. Together with the wheeled 8×8 armored vehicles, it is also a key armament for ensuring the protection and defence of the Slovak Republic and the most important step towards the construction of a heavy mechanized brigade, which the Slovak Republic will sail in accordance with international obligations towards NATO collective defence.
“I am grateful to my colleagues for their unequivocal support for the selection, which to the maximum extent possible meets the requirements of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, the set financial limit including the total price of the vehicle, logistical support, operating costs, as well as the criteria for real involvement of the domestic defence industry. The primary subcontractor will be the state-owned company ZTS – SPECIAL AND dozens more Slovak state and private companies will benefit from the project in the long term,” said Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď.
The Cabinet has agreed to advise comprehensive government offers as put forward by the Defence Secretary. Based on the evaluation results, the Mo SR recommended first of all the Swedish vehicle CV90 with a 35 mm cannon on the chassis MK IV, the second was also a CV90 with a different – 30 mm cannon. The ranking of comprehensive evaluation was further followed by the Hungarian offer with the LYNX KF41 vehicle and the Spanish with the ASCOD vehicle.
The project team consisting of approximately 60 experts from the Mo SR and the OS SR in all the areas under consideration, but also in certain aspects also experts from the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic participated in the project and evaluation. The Defence Department’s proposal was the subject of a preliminary and interdepartmental comment procedure. At the same time, the material was continuously consulted and subsequently submitted for assessment to the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic – Value for Money Unit.
The next step will be the preparation of an intergovernmental agreement between the Government of the Slovak Republic and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden for the negotiation and conclusion of an intergovernmental agreement and the implementing treaty. The advantages of acquisition at the level of government –government include not only a substantial increase in the guarantee of delivery of the equipment procured, but also the possibility of deeper military cooperation and deepening of strategic partnerships.
The total estimated cost of acquiring belt equipment, including the estimated infrastructure costs, amounts to around EUR 1,688 billion incl. VAT.