EXCALIBUR ARMY designs, develops and manufactures a wide range of military vehicles and equipment. The company aims to off er high-quality products and provide many services to its customers worldwide. We interviewed Jan Krátký, who has been working at EA as Marketing Manager since 2017, when the company was going through a period of fundamental development and portfolio transformation. At EXCALIBUR ARMY, he is responsible for brand development and business support.
You are a company with innovative potential and an investment vision. What are the main pillars of your current production, and what are the main aspects that infl uence your business?
We are a company that has shifted over the last few years from what was originally a repair and service company to a technology company with in-house development and mass production of high-value-added products. We specialise, for example, in artillery equipment, represented by the DANA, DITA and MORANA modern self-propelled howitzers or RM-70 Vampire rocket launcher, as well as wheeled armoured vehicles, like the Patriot vehicle, or special vehicles such as the AM-70 EX bridge laying vehicle, the Treva-30 special recovery vehicle, the Triton armoured firefighting vehicle or the Decon decontamination vehicle. In order to compete in highly competitive global markets, we need to come up with cuttingedge products. That is why we opened a new development centre in 2020, which helps us significantly in this regard.
Of course, our business is strongly influenced by our relationship with the state administration, the Czech army and the Ministry of Defence. These relations are very good, and the cooperation is very close, even with regard to the war situation in Ukraine. We would like to deepen this cooperation with the state even more, and we are not alone. More companies in the field of defence technology would certainly welcome this. The army and the Ministry of Defence should be informed in great detail about what Czech companies are able to off er, produce and develop for the country’s security so that they can support specific projects or even directly commission and request them. Companies and, consequently, the army would also benefi t significantly from direct state cooperation in developing technology and its testing, for example, through technical consultations or real tests in military training areas.
You belong to the Czechoslovak Group (CSG). This technology holding company brings together companies producing products not only for the military but also for the civilian sector. Do you also off er products with applications outside the army?
Yes, and they are an important part of our business activities. For rescue and special forces, we offer tailor-made derivatives and variants of our military vehicles in the field of firefighting and military engineering technology along with related material developments. For example, the Triton armoured fire trucks developed and manufactured by us have been in service with the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic for several years. We cooperate on projects for the civilian and military sectors, mainly with Tatra Trucks from Kopřivnice, but also, for example, with the state enterprise VOP CZ. However, we also have other partners outside the CSG holding as well as from abroad.
Freedom and security are values that need to be protected. The defence industry also provides opportunities for cooperation within the EU and NATO. Do you carry out such projects, and do you also employ foreign workers?
For example, in cooperation with other CSG companies, we have succeeded with the Patriot vehicle in Poland, which will be produced for the Polish army by the local industry under our licence. We are also cooperating on foreign orders, for example, with the multinational General Dynamics European Land Systems, in the construction of artillery systems with the Slovak company ZTS Špeciál, and in the field of armoured vehicles with the Croatian company Đuro Đaković. We do not resist recruiting specialists from abroad; for example, we already have workers from Ukraine, but we are primarily concerned with the expertise of people and their abilities — these are the primary criteria.
Thank you for the interview.
