Rheinmetall and Czechoslovak Group a.s. sign MoU on military vehicles

Land December 1, 2020

Rheinmetall and Czechoslovak Group a.s. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of tactical military vehicles.

The signing took place at Hradčany Castle in the presence of the President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman.

Under this new strategic partnership, both companies want to enable the transfer of defence technology between Germany and the Czech Republic in order to implement projects in the Visegrad states as well as other countries.

A key Czech industrial and business partner of Rheinmetall, CSG will act as a partner in Rheinmetall projects, together with dozens of other Czech defence companies in its supply chain.

A joint venture is to be established in the industrial zone of the truck producer Tatra, based in Kopřivnice, Moravian-Silesian region. The newly founded company, which will be a joint venture of CSG and Rheinmetall Landsysteme, will have the prestigious, internationally known Tatra brand in its name.

“We look forward to working together with Rheinmetall and firmly believe that our cooperation marks a milestone in the modernisation of the armed forces and domestic industry of the Czech Republic,” said Michal Strnad, Czechoslovak Group´s owner. “There is potential for Czechoslovak Group to become Rhein¬metall’s partner for the Czech Republic and beyond for replacing and modernising combat systems.”

“The cooperation with Czechoslovak Group is a key relationship for Rheinmetall,” said Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall. “This opportunity will allow us to incorporate Czechoslovak Group into our existing global supply chain for our broad spectrum of defence products.”

The first task of the joint venture will be to transfer the production of land technology groups and subgroups in projects which Rheinmetall is currently working on. The project can work and be mutually beneficial even without domestic orders. On the other hand, domestic orders are an important impetus for the development of the project as well as for export projects within the V4 countries and other markets.

Cooperation of CSG and Rheinmetall in the form of a joint venture represents a real transfer of production and know-how with high added value and great multiplier effects for the entire Czech economy within the framework of development and production with high added value.

This is not a virtual percentage of the Czech share of defence contracts, but a project that will actually be seen and which will be long term and stable.