MOD presents new requirements for 3D radar systems with quality, transparency and domestic defence industry involvement as conditions

The Ministry of Defence has made progress on the inherited alarming situation with the 3D RL radar systems after Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď changed the conditions of the tender originally announced by the former MOD leadership. This was mainly because of the questions raised over the transparency of the bidding process, due to which the Defence Minister received several official international complaints. Therefore, the acting MOD leadership has published new competitive bidding conditions that are more transparent and beneficial for Slovakia, whilst being fully consistent with the current requirements of the Slovak Armed Forces.

Defence State Secretary Marian Majer has today handed over the new Request for Government Proposal (RfGP) to representatives of the Governments of the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the State of Israel, Hungary, the Republic of Poland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, the Kingdom of Spain, the Italian Republic and the Republic of Turkey which have the capacity to deliver the required 3D radar systems and which communicated with the MOD about the procurement project in the past. The MOD expects the listed governments to present their bids no later than 30 September 2020.

"The radars are the biggest problem from the viewpoint of equipment in service with the Slovak Armed Forces. The service life of the vast majority of the radar systems is over, for some of them for a very long time. As a result, we find ourselves in a situation where the then solution to the 3D radars fails to answer to our idea of transparency, yet the cancellation of the entire bidding process and the start of a new one would cost our Armed Forces another 4 years and we cannot afford that. As we announced recently that we would present our requirements on the new radars to representatives of the countries that had the capacity to supply them, we have done so today," explained Defence Minister J. Naď, noting that he initiated this step to ensure maximum transparency of the entire international G2G competition.

On the details of the RfGP documentation, Defence State Secretary Marian Majer explained: "The Ministry of Defence requests individual governments to submit a complex bid for the replacement of all types of the 3D radars – 6 pcs of medium range radars, 5 pcs of short range radars, and 6 pcs of very short range radars, whereas we also want to have a separate offer for each type of the 3D radar." As part of the RfGP, there is a requirement for the SVK defence industry′s participation in the process of producing, supplying and repairing the 3D radar systems. "Although we lack the capacity to produce this type of equipment, we want to see our domestic defence companies involved in this process and thus support them with our deeds, not only words, as with the previous MOD leadership," stated Minister Naď.

The aim of replacing the Slovak Air Force radar assets is to provide round-the-clock surveillance, air traffic control (ATC), and a continuous air situational picture (ASP) over Slovakia within the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS). Under the deal, new radar systems will also be supplied for the air defence systems operated by the SVK Armed Forces. The MOD wants to procure a total 17 3D radars worth an estimated €155.090 million, VAT included.