ZAGREB, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Ministry of Defense will sign a contract with Israel-based company Elbit Systems to purchase eight remote-controlled weapon systems, local daily Vecernji list reported on Monday.
These weapons systems will be fitted on eight of 126 armored transporters that Croatia bought from Finland's biggest arms manufacturer Patria. The 93.62-million-kuna (14.88 million U.S. dollars) contract should be signed by the end of this month or at the beginning of September.
The systems will be delivered by the end of 2018, while the Defense Ministry believes that some vehicles will be completely armed until the beginning of 2018. Israeli's instructors will hold "train the trainer" courses, which means they will train some Croatian crews who will lately instruct their colleagues.
Vecernji list reported that Ministry of Defense is satisfied with the purchased systems because it will improve Croatia's combat effectiveness, especially because of the long-range missile Spike-LR that can destroy 700mm armor at a distance of 4,000 meters.
