Key facts
- The strategy said the Czech Republic is not meeting 70% of NATO capability targets buildup.
- In capability areas requiring the most resources, the strategy said the Czech army lags by 5 to 10 years.
- The strategy said the deficit limits the Czech army's ability to meet collective defense tasks.
- The plan foresees army personnel rising to 32,000 by 2030 from around 26,000.
- Funding until 2030 would go almost exclusively to approved projects including 24 F-35 fighters, Leopard tanks and short- to medium-range air defense.
- US ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said in September it was disappointing not to see more progress on Czech defense spending.
The Czech army is not meeting NATO capability targets, is short of personnel and material, and will improve only slowly despite a worsening security environment, according to a new army development strategy the government approved on Monday, November 2, 2026, and released on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
The strategy said the Czech Republic is not meeting 70% of NATO capability targets buildup, and that in the areas requiring the most resources it lags by 5 to 10 years. "This deficit limits the Czech army's ability to meet collective defence tasks," the strategy said. It also said an attack by Russia on NATO and EU countries was increasingly likely.
The Czech Republic has spent under NATO's minimum of 2% of gross domestic product on defense in recent years, and the current government does not plan any increase beyond 2% in 2027-2029. That contrasts with NATO members such as the Baltic states, Poland and Germany, which have raised defense spending in response to Russia's war in Ukraine.
NATO agreed last year to raise members' annual core defense spending to 3.5% of GDP plus an additional 1.5% on infrastructure by 2035. The Czech plan does not reflect increases until the end of the government's term in 2029 and foresees reaching 3.5% only in 2030-2035. Until 2030, funding would go almost exclusively to already approved projects such as purchases of 24 F-35 fighters, Leopard tanks and short- to medium-range air defense, slowing the buildup of a medium brigade, unmanned systems and anti-drone defense, the strategy said.
The plan sets a personnel target of 32,000 by 2030, up from around 26,000, and calls for expanding air and anti-drone defense, speeding technological adaptation and strengthening the ability to defend territory.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis' government has faced criticism on defense spending since taking power, including from US ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, who said in September it was disappointing not to see more progress. President Petr Pavel, a former general and NATO official, told reporters in a live television briefing on Monday that the strategy "does not meet these fundamental aims even in this relatively long horizon." Babis said on Monday that recruiting troops faster and focusing on air and anti-drone defense were key for him.