The Czech Defence Ministry Lubomir Metnar signed a contract with the state-owned Military Technical Institute (VTU) company on the purchase of seven Artillery Reconnaissance Vehicles (LOV-Pz) today at a cost of 355 million crowns, the ministry's spokesman Jan Pejsek has told.
The contracts were signed by Filip Riha, the deputy minister in charge of armament and acquisitions, and VTU director Jiri Protiva.
The vehicles will be assigned to the 13th Artillery Regiment, which already has access to five such machines. The vehicles are built on top of an Iveco chassis, completed by the VTU, and make use of Harris radio stations and a Bren-Tronics charging system. Other components will be provided by the Honeywell, Pramacom, EVPU and Interlink companies.
"The vehicle is designed for deployment to exposed parts of the battlefield, where it can provide adequate protection to its crew and instruments from shrapnel, light weapons and weapons of mass destruction," the Czech Army stated.
