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Military of the Czech Republic Armáda České republiky
The coat of arms and roundel
Manpower
Military age	18 years of age
Available for military service	2,414,728, age 15–49 (2005 est.)
Fit for military service	1,996,631, age 15–49  (2005 est.)
Reaching military age annually	66,583 (2005 est.)
Active personnel	25,177 military and 13,628 civil personnel[1]
Expenditures
Budget	$ 2,84 billion (2008)
Percent of GDP	1.43% (2008)[2]

The Czech Armed Forces (Czech: Armáda České republiky) comprise the military, air forces and support units. After joining NATO on March 12, 1999, the Czech Republic is completing a major overhaul of the extensive Czechoslovak Armed Forces (about 200,000) which until 1989 formed one of the pillars of the Warsaw Pact military alliance. Czech forces have been gradually downsized from 90,000 in 1993 to 63,601 in 1999^[3] to 35,000 in 2005 and at the same time modernized and reoriented toward defensive posture. In 2004 the army transformed into a fully professional organization and compulsory military service was abolished.

Structure

Structure of the Czech Armed Forces consists of three parts:

• General Staff of Czech Armed Forces (Praha)
  • Joint Forces (Olomouc)
  • Support and Training Forces (Stará Boleslav)

Structure of the Czech Armed Forces

Equipment

Assault rifle Sa vz. 58.

Czech modernized T-72.

Czech BVP-2 on a Military parade in Prague, 28 October 2008.

Armored Czech Tatra 813 truck as rocket launcher.

ShKH Ondava: 152mm Self-propelled cannon howitzer

Czech Air Force PZL W-3A

Czech Air Force JAS 39 Gripen

Czech Air Force Aero L 159 ALCA light attack aircraft

Equipment size at July 1, 2008:^[4]

Main battle tanks:

• 179x T-72 MBT (30x T-72M4CZ, rest in reserve)

IFV:

• 174x BVP-2 Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle
• 76x BPzV-1 Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle
• 107x Pandur II on order

Artillery:

• 164x DANA 152mm Self-propelled Howitzer
• 60x RM-70 122mm Multiple Rocket Launcher
• 85x M1982 PRAM-L 120mm towed mortar
• 8x SPM-85 PRAM-S 120mm self-propelled mortar
• 3x ARTHUR Artillery Tracking Radar

Non armoured vehicles:

• 114x Land Rover Defender 110 TDi - light off road vehicle
• 79x Land Rover Defender 130 Kajman
• 588x Tatra T 810 - (military trucks)
• 1000+x Tatra T815 (4x4, 6x6, 8x8 versions) military heavy trucks^[5]
• 19x Dingo 2 armored military truck
• 19x Iveco LMV armored light off road vehicle + 90 on order

Air-defence systems:

• 2K12 Kub-M2 (SA-6 GAINFUL)
• 9K35 Strela-10M (SA-13 GOPHER)
• 16x RBS 70^[5]

Combat aircraft and helicopters:

• 14x JAS 39 Gripen fighters
• 28x Aero L 159 ALCA light attack aircraft
• 29x Mil Mi-35 attack helicopters

Support/transport aircraft and helicopters:

• 11x PZL W-3 Sokół utility helicopters
• 16x Mil Mi-17 transport helicopters
• 16x Mil Mi-171S transport helicopters
• 4x EADS CASA C-295M transport aircraft
• 4x Antonov An-26 Curl transport aircraft
• 10x Let L-410 Turbolet light transport and photographic mapping
• Sojka III unmanned aerial vehicle

Training aircraft and helicopters:

• 12x Aero L-39 Albatros jet trainer
• 8x Zlin Z 142CAF basic trainer
• 5x Mil Mi-2 Hoplite trainer helicopters
• 4x Eurostar EV97 basic trainer

VIP transport

• 2x Airbus 319CJW
• 2x Yakovlev Yak-40 Codling
• 1x Bombardier Challenger 600

Small arms & hand weapons:

• Vz. 52 rifle is used as ceremonial weapon by Prague Castle Guard.
• Sa vz. 58 standard service rifle
• Škorpion vz. 61 submachine gun
• Uk vz. 59
• Dragunov Sniper Rifle (SVD)
• CZ 700 sniper rifle
• CZ 75 pistol,
• CZ 97B pistol,
• CZ 100 pistol,
• RPG-7V anti-tank grenade launcher
• RPG-75 anti-tank weapon
• Carl Gustav M3 recoilless rifle
• Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun
• FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile launcher

Recent operations

The Czech Republic is a member of the UN and the OSCE and has contributed to numerous peacekeeping operations, including IFOR/SFOR in Bosnia, Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq.

Current deployments (as of 2005):

• Kosovo: NATO Operation "Joint Enterprise" (KFOR) - 500 soldiers
• Iraq: Coalition Operation of Multinational Forces - 96 soldiers
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: European Union Operation (ALTHEA) - 65 soldiers (ended in June 2008^[6])
• Afghanistan: NATO Operation (ISAF) - 480 soldiers in Faizabad and Logar provinces. Also 100 soldiers in the Operation Enduring Freedom

Uniforms

Different types of Czech Army uniforms:

Standard Czech camouflage uniform and vz. 58 standard service rifle

Military band Olomouc

Military band Olomouc

Military band Olomouc

Commanding officers

• Highest Commander of the Armed Forces: President of the Republic Václav Klaus
• Chief of the General Staff: Lieutenant General Vlastimil Picek
• Chief of the General Staff Office: Colonel Milan Šeiner
• First Deputy Chief of the General Staff: Lieutenant General Jaroslav Kolkus
• Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the ACR-Chief of Staff: Lieutenant General František Hrabal
• Deputy Chief of the General Staff - Director of JOC (Operations Commander): Major General Josef Prokš
• Director of Division for Development of Forces Branches - Operations Division: Brigadier General Josef Bečvář

• • Immediately Subordinated Offices:
  • Military Regional Office, Boletice
  • Military Regional Office, Brdy
  • Military Regional Office, Březina
  • Military Regional Office, Hradiště
  • Military Regional Office, Libavá

• Support Policy Division: Director Major General Pavel Jevula
  • Immediately Subordinated Institutions:
  • Central Military Hospital, Prague
  • Military Hospital, Brno
  • Military Hospital, Olomouc
  • Institute of Aviation Medicine, Prague

• Communication and Information Systems Division:Director - Chief of the Signal Corps of ACR: Colonel Jan Kaše
  • Immediately Subordinated Institutions:
  • 6th Communication Centre
  • Research and Communication Centre 080
  • Information Technology Development Agency

• Force Planning Division: Acting Director Colonel František Mičánek

• Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare Department: Director Colonel Miroslav Žižka
  • Immediately Subordinated Office:
  • Military Geography and Hydrometeorology Office

• Military Aviation Authority: Director Colonel Josef Otta

See also

• Czech Air Force
• Active Reserve (Czech Army)

References

External links

• (English) Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic
• (Czech) Information Center about NATO