Kalinak: First Israeli Air-defence System Expected to Arrive in Late 2025

Bratislava, August 28 (TASR) - The first of the air-defence systems that Slovakia will buy from Israel should arrive in Slovakia in late 2025, said Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) on Wednesday, adding that according to preliminary agreements, the ammunition for the Barrack systems could be produced in Slovakia. The minister said in this vein that the Slovak arms industry will be involved in the deal. "As far as I know, two companies have been approached, one state-owned and one private. Their involvement would include radar and missile production," stated the minister, adding that there will probably be more. Kalinak said that negotiations have managed to reduce the price of the system from €128 million per unit to over €92 million. The order will also include missiles with extended range and radars with doubled range. Slovakia is set to purchase six mobile air-defence systems from Israel for an estimated price of over €554 million. The Defence Ministry is expected to sign an intergovernmental agreement with Israel by the end of October. The purchase was approved by the government on Wednesday. zel/df