Guided missiles of the Czech Army getting antiquated
Press Release – June 12, 2008
From August 2007 to February 2008, auditors from the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) performed an audit of financial resources provided for developments in air protection. The audited property and financial resources were worth CZK 3.1 billion. Even though ordered by the government, the Ministry of Defence has not submitted a long-time development plan of the department that was due by June 30, 2008. The existing programming documents for the period from 2009 to 2014, which are dedicated to the Army of the Czech Republic, do not tackle the subject of air protection.
In 2008, the Army withdrew the environmental approach to liquidation of the disused guided missiles and 2,215 guided missiles were left in the ammunition depots without further monitoring of their technical condition. As the SAO's report states, putting off the liquidation process would lead to additional costs for the storage and at the same time, more safety risks are produced.
“The Army already started to re-weapon with man-portable air defence systems in 2002. In 2004, after no consumer audit had been carried out, the ministry entered into an agreement with a contractor with a view to purchase the RBS 70 portable surface-to-air missile systems that would cost more than CZK 1 billion. At that time, such a practise was not contrary to the valid law of public orders,“ said František Dohnal, president of the SAO.
"All surface-to-air missiles from the equipment of the Army are twice or three times older than the guaranteed lifetime (with an exception of the RBS-70 systems). Further extending of their application would not be safe or dependable. If the interval among tests reduces, the maintenance costs increase,“ said Dohnal.
The auditing operation was included into the 2007 Audit Plan of the SAO. Ladislav Zeman, Member of the SAO Board, controlled the operation and drew up the audit report as well.
Radka Burketová
Press Speaker
Supreme Audit Office