Czech Republic and Slovakia Agree on Joint Military Procurement to Modernize Armies

The Czech Republic and Slovakia have agreed to coordinate joint purchases of military equipment, their defense ministers announced, in a move aimed at streamlining the modernization of both countries' armed forces. The agreement covers shared procurement of hardware including AM120 mortars and Tatra 815 military trucks — the latter a rugged vehicle long associated with Central European defense industries. The deal opens the door to broader defense cooperation between the two neighboring NATO allies. Czech and Slovak defense cooperation has natural foundations in the countries' shared history: the two nations formed a single state, Czechoslovakia, until a peaceful split in 1993. Both are members of NATO and the European Union, and have increasingly sought to align their defense planning and spending amid heightened security concerns following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Joint procurement is seen as a way for smaller NATO members to reduce costs and improve interoperability — the ability of allied forces to operate together effectively.