Soldiers of the 42nd and the 72nd Mechanized Battalions will be the first ones in the Czech military to use new Czech-made CZ 805 BREN assault rifles.
The first 505 automatic rifles CZ 805 BREN A1/A2, out of almost eight thousand of the whole contract, will be used by solders of five units. The major part of 349 pieces receive soldiers of 42nd Mechanized Battalion based at Tabor and 100 pieces go to soldiers of the 72nd Mechanized Battalion at Praslavice.
Following necessary training, both units will take them to Afghanistan to serve on ISAF operation, namely to the Wardak Province (OMLT unit) and the Logar Province (PRT unit).
The new rifle replaces the current rifle, widely used small arm called “sub-machine gun” Sa vz. 58, which has been used by Czechoslovak and the Czech military since the 1960s.
Compared to the Sa vz. 58, the new CZ 805 BREN rifle can not only use NATO-standard caliber of 5,56 mm but also optical and opto-electronic devices including additional instruments can be easily attached to the rifle.
“All rifles will be used for preparation for (ISAF) mission, the training itself we start immediately after the take-over of rifles,” reveals Lieutenant Colonel Martin Botik, new commander of the 72nd Mechanized Battalion. Soldiers of the 4th unit of OMLT will be trained by their colleagues who participated in military tests of new rifles.
The Czech manufacturer Ceska zbrojovka, a.s., won the international open tender for delivery of the small arm for the Czech military. The next delivery of some three thousand assault rifles is due this November. The Ministry of Defence expects cooperation with the Ceska zbrojovka also in the future.
