Security and the economy are closely interconnected. Key factors include capacities, investment, people, technology, and resilient supply chains. The Czech defence industry has the potential to become a pillar of state modernisation and, at the same time, a strong export player, provided it builds on research, development, and innovation and systematically increases domestic value added. It is not only about manufacturing; it is about designing, integrating, testing, modernising, and servicing, thereby creating well-paid jobs and know-how that cannot be easily replaced. Those able to scale production, deliver on time, and maintain systems over the long term will set the pace. At the same time, it is important to address the sustainability of growth, as the current boom is not guaranteed and may change faster than new investments can pay off.

How can we ensure that the defence industry remains sustainable in the long term even after the current arms boom subsides? How should investment in research and development be structured to increase value added and create well-paid jobs in the Czech Republic? What changes must the state make so that procurement accelerates modernisation while also encouraging innovation and domestic know-how? How should the involvement of Czech companies be structured so that key value added remains in the Czech Republic across production, integration, servicing, and life-cycle management? How can exports be supported while protecting strategic technologies and limiting risky dependencies?

Defence modernisation today is not merely about purchasing new equipment, but about the state’s ability to translate substantial investments into effective military capabilities. The Czech Republic is entering a period of significant defence modernisation, which will present not only military challenges but also budgetary, technological and organisational ones. European defence cooperation, the coordination of joint investments, the strengthening of European defence industrial capabilities and the use of European Union instruments, while ensuring complementarity with NATO, all play an important role in this process. The key challenge will be to translate major investments into operationally effective capabilities that perform reliably in practice, remain sustainable over the long term and are supported by sufficient technical, maintenance and industrial capacities.

What determines whether major modernisation projects genuinely enhance the country’s defence capabilities rather than remaining ambitious procurement plans on paper? How can European defence initiatives and joint investments contribute to the modernisation of the Czech Armed Forces and the strengthening of the domestic defence industry? How can new systems be integrated into a coherent whole, remain interoperable with NATO systems and standards and be sustainable from both operational and economic perspectives? What are the main obstacles currently facing Czech defence efforts when bringing new capabilities into operational use?

Defence spending is not merely a matter of budgetary percentages, but above all of the state’s ability to manage public funds responsibly, efficiently and with a clearly demonstrable impact on national security. Responsible investment in defence should therefore begin with a realistic assessment of threats and the risks arising from them, the identification of required capabilities, the establishment of strategic priorities, and their integration with multi-year financial, personnel and industrial planning. Success should be measured not only by whether a project was delivered on time and within budget, but above all by whether the new capability is operationally deployable, interoperable, and sustainable in terms of personnel and logistics throughout its entire life cycle.

What must the Czech Republic do to ensure that defence spending goes beyond merely meeting a budgetary target and leads to a measurable strengthening of the state’s capabilities? How can alliance commitments, long-term planning, the development of the Czech and European defence industries, and responsible financial management be effectively linked? Does the capability acquisition process within defence planning need to be revised? Where are its bottlenecks? And how should the Czech Republic proceed to ensure that investment in defence and security also strengthens the resilience of the state as a whole?

The security of the state does not rest on the armed forces alone. In times of crisis, its functioning also depends on the integrated rescue system, the police, fire brigades, crisis management authorities, local governments and private companies providing energy, transport, logistics, data networks and other essential services. This is why national resilience is becoming one of today’s main security priorities. Decisions on how well European countries will be prepared for the crises of the next decade are already being made today, through infrastructure investment, the introduction of new technologies and the development of crisis plans. Cybersecurity is also playing an increasingly important role. An attack on one system can quickly spread to other networks, services or supply chains and affect the functioning of the entire state. Genuine resilience therefore requires the state, local governments and the private sector to cooperate in a crisis according to rules established in advance rather than improvising. Rapid information sharing, joint crisis scenarios and exercises, compatible standards for critical infrastructure protection and public preparedness are essential. Equally important is the state’s ability to communicate clearly during a crisis, maintain public trust and limit the scope for disinformation.

What needs to change to ensure that cooperation between the state, the integrated rescue system, local governments and companies works when a real crisis occurs? Which information-sharing rules are essential for a rapid response to a cyberattack or a major outage? Can critical infrastructure protection be harmonised across sectors, replacing fragmented approaches with common standards? What determines whether the state can maintain public trust and counter disinformation during a crisis?

Modern national defence capability does not depend only on the armed forces and military equipment. Without people, there can be no production, maintenance, logistics, cybersecurity, crisis management or development of new technologies. In the coming years, the Czech Republic will need a sufficient number of qualified workers not only in the armed forces, but also in industry, transport, energy, education, research and other sectors that form the backbone of a secure and resilient state. Competition in the labour market is increasing, and the state, the armed forces and strategic companies are competing for the same technical, digital and skilled-trade professions. The future will depend on whether the public sector, schools and industry can be better connected, whether the prestige of technical education can be strengthened, whether know-how can be retained in the Czech Republic, and whether conditions can be created for a new generation of people capable of developing the country’s security, industrial and technological capacities.

How can the Czech Republic ensure a sufficient number of qualified people for defence, industry, infrastructure and other strategic sectors? How can the state better connect the armed forces, schools, research institutions and companies? What needs to change to make technical and skilled-trade professions more attractive to the younger generation? How can key know-how be retained in the Czech Republic and how can we prevent strategic capacities from being limited by labour shortages? What role should employers, universities and regions play in strengthening national defence capability?