The International Defense Exhibition (IDET) 2023 fair taken place at the Brno exhibition center from May 24 to 26. The traditional exhibitors are companies of the Czechoslovak Group (CSG) holding, the Tatra Trucks company and sister company as well. The joint exhibition of the companies presented a number of exhibits in the main exhibition hall at stand No. P 038, and on the outdoor area near pavilion P and on the polygon of dynamic demonstrations. With its size and number of exhibits, the CSG, Tatra and EA exhibition will be the largest at the fair. The company presented the newest artillery system in its portfolio – the Morana self-propelled howitzer, which had its Czech exhibition premiere in Brno. Another special engineering vehicle that will be on display at IDET from the company’s portfolio is the AM-70 EX bridge vehicle.
“From the number of our exhibits, we nominated the Treva-30 recovery and evacuation vehicle for the Golden IDET award, vehicle is the latest achievement of our designers and technicians in the field of special and engineering vehicles. The Treva-30 uses the proven Tatra 8×8 chassis and is equipped with powerful winches and crane equipment, as well as an armored Puma cabin developed and manufactured by our company as well. For the first time, we will exhibit the Patriot 4×4 armored vehicle with level 4 resistance according to STANAG intended for a customer in the Middle East. Until now, customers have requested these vehicles in lower resistances, but the example on display proves that the design of the Patriot offers wider possibilities,” informed Richard Kub?na, business director of Excalibur Army.
The Morana represents a completely new design with a gun in the standard caliber 155 mm NATO with a barrel length of 52 calibers. It is built on an extended Tatra 8×8 chassis, and its concept differs significantly from previous Excalibur Army designs in this category of weapon systems. On the outdoor exhibition area and during dynamic demonstrations, the company demonstrated the Dita self-propelled howitzer on the Tatra chassis, which is also equipped with a 155 mm cannon, but with a barrel length of 45 calibers. In addition to the Patriot, the Pandur II 8×8 infantry fighting vehicle will also be displayed on the outdoor exhibition area. Excalibur Army cooperates with Tatra Defense Vehicle on its development and production. Excalibur Army will also present the MR-2 Viktor mobile short-range air defense system, which is mounted on a Toyota Hilux chassis and has found its application in Ukraine. The exhibits will also include the SDO-4 decontamination container and the tank workshop container for T-72 tanks on the Tatra chassis.
EXCALIBUR ARMY, belonging to CZECHOSLOVAK GROUP’s industrial holding, is the leader in the Czech military equipment market with the main office in Prague. Its history dates to 1995. At present, it focuses on research and development, production, service, repairs and modernization including key upgrades of military wheeled and tracked land platforms, and on the sale of military vehicles and land systems, spare parts and military equipment. The company has production capacities for producing of heavy off-road wheeled chassis, electronics, ammunition, special containers or armored vehicles. It cooperates with a number of companies not only from the defense and security industry, and the company is a member of the Defense and Security Industry Association of the Czech Republic. The company’s latest projects include self-propelled howitzer MORANA 155 mm, RM-70 Vampire self-propelled rocket launchers on the Tatra chassis, AM-50 EX and AM-70 EX bridge vehicles on the Tatra chassis as well or modernization and development of self-propelled howitzers of the DANA M2 standard and development of DITA howitzer.
