Czech Republic Selects Israeli SPYDER Anti-aircraft Missile System

The army of the Czech Republic has selected Israeli SPYDER anti-aircraft missile systems (AAMS) as replacement for its outdated Soviet-era “Cub” AAMS .

This was announced by the Czech Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar, several local media repoted on September 26.

Separately, the Israeli MoD tweeted Saturday, “the Czech Ministry of Defense has informed the Israeli Ministry of Defense of its decision to equip itself, following international competition, with Israeli air defense systems developed by (Israeli company) Rafael.”

According to media reports, negotiations have begun between the two countries on the purchase of four Spyder air defense systems. They are produced by the RAFAEL company, which won the tender for the supply of air defense systems announced by the Czech Ministry of Defense and lasted for several years.

The range of the Israeli systems ranges from 20 to 80 kilometers. They are capable of covering both stationary objects and mobile units. SAM Spyder can hit aircraft, helicopters, UAVs and cruise missiles. The radars in the batteries are manufactured by ELTA.

The price of the systems or when Rafael would begin supply has not been mentioned in the reports.

According to Rafael, The SPYDER systems defend large areas against a wide spectrum of threats. System components and interceptors can be flexibly combined, affording different configurations with various ranges and capabilities. All the SPYDER systems have multiple target engagement capability for handling saturation attacks.

The SPYDER systems Incorporates the the PYTHON-5 dual waveband IIR missile, the I-DERBY active radar BVR and the I-DERBY ER long-range missile. The missiles can also be used for ground-to-air missions. The SPYDER family has autonomous capabilities, detecting threats while on-the-move; firing instantly after halt. SPYDER’s open architecture design enables adding up external components, such as radars.

SPYDER systems enable 360° launch within seconds of the target being declared hostile, and provide all-weather, multi-launch, net-centric capabilities.