IDET 2023: Czech Republic receives first TITUS vehicles

A TITUS 6×6 armoured vehicle was handed over to the ACR during a ceremony at IDET 2023 on 24 May. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)

The Tactical Infantry Transport and Utility System (TITUS) 6×6 armoured vehicle was handed over to the Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) on the first day of the International Defence and Security Technology Fair (IDET) 2023 held in Brno, Czech Republic, on 24–26 May 2023. The vehicle was one of five TITUS artillery fire support co-ordination posts delivered earlier in May, according to a 23 May Nexter press release on its participation in IDET.

The Czech Republic ordered 62 TITUS vehicles in 2019 – 42 command staff and liaison vehicles and 20 artillery fire support co-ordination posts. The command staff and liaison version can be used as a signals vehicle. Most of the vehicles will go to the ACR's 4th Brigade Task Force and 7th Brigade Task Force, the latter of which has been designated as a heavy brigade committed to NATO.

TITUS represents a significant shift in the digitisation of the modern battlefield, according to Brigadier General Petr Šnajdárek, director of the Czech Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) communication and information systems section, who said, “TITUS is able to receive and transmit information from combat units to the command post in minutes and literally to the opposite end of the globe.”

General Petr Milčický, director of the Czech MoD's Force Development Section, said that TITUS would provide communication and information support and interoperability of brigade- and battalion-level command and control in accordance with NATO standards. “By being able to transmit information (image and sound) faster and in larger volumes, this area will be completely strengthened. In addition, communication with allies on the common battlefield will be significantly simplified,” he added.