HAVEL & PARTNERS’ professional team provided long-term legal advice to the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic in connection with the preparation and negotiation of an inter-governmental contract for the purchase of the SPYDER Israeli air defence system from the state-owned company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. for the Army of the Czech Republic at CZK 13.7 billion (incl. VAT), as well an agreement for maintenance and servicing of the system for a fee of up to CZK 6.2 billion over a period of 20 years from the delivery of the system in 2026. The Czech Republic signed both contracts with the Israeli counterparty on 5 October 2021.

Comprehensive legal advice to the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic was provided by Petr Kadlec (partner), Martin Ráž (counsel), and Ivo Heger (associate), supported by Ondrej Čurilla (counsel) and Petra Kašpárková (associate) in the area of public procurement, and Josef Žaloudek (counsel) and Kristýna Šlehoferová (tax advisor) in the area of taxes.

SPYDER is an Israeli Short Range Air Defence (SHORAD) system designated to detect, identify and eliminate airborne targets. This ensures, among other things, the protection of urban agglomerations, nuclear power plants, industrial centres, airports and other important facilities from the threat of air attack. SPYDER is combat proven and is the first successful delivery of this sophisticated defence system to a NATO member state.

Deliveries of four SPYDER batteries will take place gradually until 2026. The new system will replace the obsolete Soviet-made KUB missile systems from the 1970s in the Czech Army’s arsenal. The contract is also a great opportunity for the Czech defence industry, especially the company RETIA and the state-owned enterprise Vojenský technický ústav.