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Czech company to supply Iraq with hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles

Xinhua, February 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Czech company Excalibur Army will supply 100 repaired tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs) to the Iraqi military under a contract worth hundreds of million crowns, reported local media on Friday.

The contract was approved by the Czech ministries of foreign affairs, defence and the interior.

Jaroslav Strnad, owner of the Excalibur Group holding to which Excalibur Army belongs, said this was one of the biggest deals in the company's history. He said the contract would generate hundreds of million of crowns in employment for several years.

The first supply of BVP-1 APCs and T-72 tanks destined for Iraq were individually checked by Iraqi experts earlier this week in Excalibur Army's manufacturing and repair plant in Sternberk, north Moravia.

Excalibur Army spokesman Andrej Cirtek said the experts checked the tanks and armored vehicles thoroughly inside and out, as well as their spare parts.

Iraq intends to use the military equipment to combat the Islamic State.

"It is extremely important (that) the Czech Republic help in the fight against international terrorism," Czech former chief of staff Jiri Sedivy was quoted as saying.

Chairman of Czech Senate Committee on foreign, defence and security affairs, Frantisek Bublan, said the military equipment supply was the best contribution the Czech Republic could make to Iraq in its fight against Islamists.

Excalibur Army is a company with about 400 staff. The company recently sent tanks, armored vehicles and missile launchers to the Nigerian military which is fighting Islamic militant group Boko Haram. It also obtained a license to manufacture Pandur APCs for eastern Europe and Asia markets. (1 U.S. dollar = about 24.3 Czech crowns) Endit