At its meeting on 4 October 2023, the Government of the Slovak Republic took another step forward in the modernisation of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (Ozbrojené sily Slovenskej republiky; OS SR). The Government approved negotiations for the delivery of new air defence missile systems as part of the first stage of modernising Slovakia’s ground-based air defence (see ESD 6/2023 for further details). Moreover, at the same meeting, the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic (Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky; MO SR) informed the Government regarding the procurement of assault rifles under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme.
On 31 May 2023, the MO SR sent out requests for government proposal to ambassadors of 11 selected countries with relevant production potential for their man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) and medium range surface-to-air missile system – mobile (MRSAM-M) requirements. The deadline for receipt of tenders was 31 July 2023.
A total of four proposals were received from four countries for MANPADS and four bids were obtained from three countries for MRSAM-M. In August 2023, a project team of approximately 60 experts of the MO SR evaluated the bids on the basis of pre-declared evaluation criteria in the areas of technical capability (criterion weighting: 35%), procurement price (15%), life cycle costs (25%), delivery dates (15%), crew training (5%), and involvement of domestic industry (5%). The tables below give a breakdown of the offers evaluated by the MO SR:
| Evaluation results of submitted offers for MANPADS | ||||
| Country (supplier) | System | Number of launchers | Overall assessment | Total price including VAT (EUR) |
| Sweden (Saab Dynamics) | RBS-70 NG | 12 | 86% | 39,514,694 |
| Poland (MESKO) | Piorun | 36 | 76% | 65,883,000 |
| France (MBDA) | Mistral 3 | 12 | 75% | 35,000,400 |
| South Korea (LIG Nex1) | Chiron | 12 | 72% | 30,952,280 |
| Evaluation results of submitted offers for MRSAM-M | ||||
| Country (supplier) | System | Number of launchers | Overall assessment | Total price including VAT (EUR) |
| Israel (IAI) | BARAK MX | 3 (with 8 missiles each) | 95% | 128,102,880 |
| Israel (Rafael) | SPYDER | 3 (with 8 missiles each) | 84% | 149,534,880 |
| Germany (Diehl Defence) | IRIS-T SLM | 4 (with 8 missiles each) | 72% | 200,339,155 |
| France (MBDA) | VL MICA | 3 (with 4 missiles each) | 65% | 169,226,880 |
Poland’s offer ranked second in the MO SR evaluation, however, it also provides a significant operational advantage with three times the number of launchers as other offers, as well as ammunition. Moreover, this was the only offer for a MANPADS conceptually similar to the current 9K38 Igla used in the OS SR. Therefore, the MO SR is due to start negotiations with the Polish government to prepare the necessary contractual documents for the acquisition of 36 Piorun systems.
IAI’s Barak MX ranked highest in the MRSAM-M category, and consequently, the Slovak government has given the MO SR a mandate to negotiate with Israel for the supply of one BARAK MX system. In the case of both MANPADS and MRSAM-M, the draft contractual documents will need to be submitted to the Government of the Slovak Republic for approval before signing.
Martin Smisek
