Slovakia’s Ministry of Defense said yesterday that Germany will provide Slovakia with two sets of MANTIS air defence systems to protect Slovakia’s eastern border with Ukraine.

“Slovakia will receive the systems for free and permanently,” Ministry Spokesperson Martina Kakascikova told AFP. Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said in a statement on his social media account: “Training of Slovak soldiers to use the system will begin in the coming months.”

However, the ministry did not specify the date of the system’s arrival in Slovakia. “This agreement to purchase modern systems is a recognition of our open support for Ukraine and a responsible step taken by the Alliance,” added Nad. The systems are worth around 120 million euros, according to Nad. According to the ministry, the two systems each consist of up to eight automatic weapons stations, two radar stations and a command center. Kakascikova said the package from Germany also includes an overview radar and training with a range of up to 100 kilometres.