IDET 2025: SPYDER SHORAD system to enter Czech service by end of 2026

The SPYDER SHORAD system, which is to enter Czech service by the end of 2026, was displayed at IDET 2025. (Michal Zdobinský)

The SPYDER short-range air defence (SHORAD) system will enter Czech service by the end of 2026, the Czech Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on its website on 28 May. The system was displayed at the International Defence and Security Technology Fair (IDET) 2025, held in Brno, Czech Republic, from 28 to 30 May.

SPYDER will replace four batteries of obsolete 2K12 Kub air-defence systems of the Czech Air Force's 25th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment by the end of 2026, according to the Czech MoD. SPYDER production is in full swing and technology for the first battery is ready and being tested in the Czech Republic, the ministry said.

Colonel Jaroslav Daverný, the Army of the Czech Republic's (ACR's) chief of ground-based air defence, said SPYDER can fire within minutes of arriving at a location and leave just as quickly. The system will be used against combat aircraft, class 2 and 3 unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles. Whereas Kub fires a single missile with a maximum range of 21 km, SPYDER has a range of 25–80 km, depending on the type of missile used, and can fire salvos, according to the Czech MoD. The ministry noted that the SPYDER system is manufactured by Rafael and is used by Israel to protect against missiles fired by Hizbullah from Lebanon.

Col Daverný said, “The ground-based air-defence system's launcher is made up of nearly 10,000 components [and] we can produce everything in the Czech Republic except for the missiles and special fire-control software.”