Israeli-Czech Radar Deal Questioned

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The Czech Republic Ministry of Defence is understood to have deferred a deal to buy Eight ELM-2084 multi-mission radar systems worth Euro 175 million over concerns that the radar would be incompatible with its NATO-compliant systems. IAI subsidiary Elta Systems undertook to supply the radar systems to the Czech army within the framework of this radar deal.

The Czech MoD is said to have issued instructions to its procurement agency to defer the deal out of concern that the Israeli radar systems cannot be connected to other systems used by NATO forces, according to defenseworld.net.

The radar deal with the Czech Republic was concluded 18 months ago. In view of the crisis involving the deal, the Czech Ministry of Defense is expected to hold discussions to determine its fate over the coming month.

In response to the publication of the radar deal, IAI commented that the company “does not give any information about deals or customers”.

The ELM-2084 multi-mission radar systems in the deal are already in use by the IDF, for locating the source of rockets fired at Israeli territory. Globes.com reported that the multi-mission radar is also used by the Israel Air Force in the Iron Dome active defense system against rocket fire. In addition to its ability to identify rocket fire, the system can also calculate the rocket’s trajectory and provide a precise assessment of where it will fall. Thanks to this unique capability, the Iron Dome system launches interceptors only if the rockets are expected to hit populated areas.

Elta Systems has sold 100 of these radar systems in recent years to several countries around the world for a total of $2 billion.