Czech Republic ordered 100 thousand ammunition for RPG-7 for Ukrainian soldier training

14 December, 2023 A Czech soldier with an RPG-7 grenade launcher. Illustrative photo The Czech Republic has signed an agreement for the supply of RPG-7 grenade launcher ammunition, which will be used to train the Ukrainian military.

The news was published on the Czech government website. The Ministry of Defense of the country announced the contracting of the production of 100,000 ammunition for an RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launcher, which should be delivered between 2024 and 2031. The ammunition supplier is STV Group, which is a direct manufacturer in the Czech Republic.

The contract value is CZK 2.5 billion, which is equivalent to £112 million. According to the Ministry of Defense, the procurement will make it possible to train the Ukrainian military in the Czech Republic next year, a program that was extended in November to 2024. According to officials, as of now, about 3,500 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the Czech Republic, and about 500 more have been trained by Czech instructors in Poland.

Ukrainian military during exercises in the Czech Republic, December 2022.

Photo credits: Czech Army

Rejection of the Soviet heritage

It should be noted that simultaneously with the next major agreement to purchase the RPG-7 ammunition in the Czech Republic, discussions have long been ongoing about abandoning Soviet-type grenade launchers and replacing them with more modern counterparts. Intentions to replace the Soviet anti-tank grenade launcher with a more modern model have been voiced in the Czech Republic since the 2000s. A limited batch of Swedish Carl Gustaf M3 grenade launchers was purchased for special forces needs.

Initially, they were intended to solve a wide range of tasks, for which a large range of ammunition was to be obtained, but due to financial constraints, the country purchased a limited number of grenade launchers and ammunition.

Fire team of the Swedish Carl Gustaf grenade launcher

The next time their replacement with a modern model by 2020 was discussed in 2015, but in 2019, there was no progress in the plan and the full replacement was postponed until 2025. Today, the Czech military has three types of hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers in its arsenal. These are the RPG-7 mentioned above, the Swedish Carl Gustav M3 grenade launcher, and the lighter disposable Czechoslovak RPG-75 analog.

RPG-75 hand grenade launcher.

Photo from open sources

The latter is still manufactured in the Czech Republic by ZEVETA Bojkovice a.s.

In October, Czech volunteers opened fundraising to purchase 1000 such grenade launchers for the Ukrainian military.