Prague to buy $631 million Israeli air defence system

The Czech defence ministry will buy a short- and medium-range air defence system made by Israeli state-owned supplier Rafael, the Defence Ministry said on Monday. The ministry said it had informed the cabinet it would conclude a government-to-government deal to buy Rafael’s SPYDER Short Range Air Defence/medium Range Surface to Air Missile (SHORAD/ MRSAM). It said it would pay 13.69 billion crowns ($631.81 million) for the system, which will replace Soviet-made technology from the 1970s. The government has been raising defence spending to modernise its armed forces, but has admitted it would fall short of its pledge as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defence by 2024. —