Slovakia, Brazil discuss military transport aircraft, howitzer buys

WARSAW, Poland — Slovakia and Brazil have signed a memorandum below which Bratislava may purchase 4 Embraer C-390 Millennium transport plane for the nation’s armed forces. In the meantime, the Slovak authorities is pitching to the Brazilian Ministry of Protection the acquisition of Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers, in line with Slovakia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Protection Minister Robert Kaliňák.

Kaliňák made the announcement on Dec. 11 in the course of the Slovak authorities’s official go to to Brazil throughout which he mentioned the potential procurements together with his counterpart, José Múcio.

“I feel that each the Brazilian and Slovak industrial bases can supply an enormous quantity of expertise, what we’re sturdy in, what we’re good at,” Kaliňák mentioned, as quoted by state-run information company TASR.

He added that Brazilian officers had additionally proven an curiosity in Slovakia’s know-how within the discipline of ammunition manufacturing.

In Might 2024, Brazil determined to purchase 36 ATMOS 2000 self-propelled howitzers from Israel’s Elbit Methods. Nonetheless, the procurement stays suspended over Brazilian President Inazio “Lula” da Silva’s criticism of the Israeli authorities’s actions towards Hamas in Gaza.

The 155mm Zuzana 2 howitzer is manufactured by Slovak firm Konštrukta Defence, and it’s based mostly on a four-axle Tatra wheeled chassis.

Whereas the C-390′s fundamental mannequin is priced at some €80 million ($84 million), different nations which have ordered the planes paid as much as €220 million per unit, relying on the chosen model and its gear, Kaliňák mentioned.

In September 2023, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence determined to purchase 4 C-390s to exchange its getting older fleet of three C-130 Hercules cargo planes. The ministry mentioned in a press release the acquisition was estimated to be value greater than €500 million.

In October 2024, the Czech Ministry of Defence signed a deal to purchase two C-390s, making Prague the fifth NATO member state to order the Brazilian airplane for its air power. Different nations which have chosen the C-390 for his or her militaries embrace Brazil, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, and South Korea.