CAESAR Howitzers for the Czech Republic to Be Manufactured Based on Ukrainian Experience

Next year, the Czech military is set to receive the first batch of new Caesar self-propelled howitzers from the French company KNDS.

The Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces of the Czech Republic has stated that 62 French CAESAR howitzers will replace the outdated DANA howitzers, which will remain in service until 2027.

KNDS, drawing on Ukraine’s experience, has made adjustments to the project.

“This will be a unique product, with its appearance and capabilities reflecting the experience of the Ukrainian battlefield,” the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces of the Czech Republic announced.

Two prototypes of the new CAESAR, part of the 62-unit order, are currently undergoing test trials.

The tests are being conducted by the French manufacturer with the assistance of independent national authorities. The test trials are fully under the responsibility of the Czech Armaments and Acquisition Section of the Ministry of Defence.

“Ukraine is for us a unique testing laboratory that we have never had before. We are building equipment for the next four decades. We want the system to be as resilient and functional as possible for as long as possible. If we didn’t use the experience of Ukrainian artillerymen and apply it to the new equipment, we would be wasting CZK 10.3 billion unnecessarily,” the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces noted.

Three crews and technical personnel of the CAESAR have already completed training in France.

“The military has clearly defined its requirements, it carefully checks all parameters, and if the supplier does not meet some of them, we create conditions for optimizing the project timeline,” the Czech authorities shared.

Czechia ordered 52 CAESAR self-propelled howitzers in September 2021, but in December 2022, it increased the order by an additional 10 vehicles.

The total value of the contract is CZK 10.3 billion, or nearly $451 million. It is planned that all the self-propelled howitzers will be delivered to the Czech army by the end of 2026.

One of the features of this order is that Czechia has ordered the version of the howitzer based on the 8×8 chassis produced by the Czech company Tatra. This will allow the self-propelled howitzers to carry a larger ammunition load and provide better protection compared to the versions based on the 6×6 chassis.