The Czech Ministry of Defense is warning French defense firm KNDS that it may halt payments for 62 Caesar 8×8 self-propelled howitzers after repeated failures to meet critical performance standards, Novinky has reported.
Lubor Koudelka, Chief Armaments Director, sent a letter to KNDS urging the company to resolve the Czech Army’s concerns and prepare the howitzers for military testing.
“If KNDS does not start fulfilling the terms of the contract and does not prepare the howitzers for military tests, the Czech Republic will stop paying advances,” Koudelka wrote.
The ministry has already paid more than CZK 7 billion ($315 million) in advances to KNDS, with an additional CZK 1 billion ($45 million) slated for this year. Defence Minister Jana Černochová told the Czech government earlier this month that the $450 million program faces “serious problems” which could result in delayed deliveries or even cancellation of the contract.
“I began discussions with the French Minister of Defence, and my colleagues, including Director Koudelka and the military, have warned the manufacturer about these serious problems,” Černochová said in comments to Novinky.
KNDS subsidiary Nexter, the original designer of the Caesar system, has delivered the 6×6 version for over 20 years to France and more than 10 other countries without incident. However, the newer 8×8 platform—developed to meet Danish and Czech requirements—has encountered persistent challenges.
Denmark initially ordered 19 of the systems but canceled its plans after delays and technical issues, later sending the howitzers to Ukraine.
Czech tests on two prototype vehicles revealed multiple issues. The howitzers failed to achieve the required 40-kilometer range in Multiple Round Simultaneous Impact (MRSI) mode, a technique allowing several shells fired in sequence to strike a target simultaneously.
More seriously, the French manufacturer has not provided essential data describing the interaction between the gun and its ammunition. Without this information, the Adler III fire control system, sourced from Germany’s ESG, cannot function, and Czech artillery shells cannot be integrated.
“Without these data, the howitzers are not interoperable and it is unclear whether they meet NATO standards,” a Czech Army source told Novinky.