PRAGUE -- The Czech military has signed a deal worth 8.52 billion Czech crowns ($390 million) to acquire 52 CAESAR self-propelled gun howitzers from France’s Nexter Systems.

       The contract was signed on Thursday during a visit by French Defense Minister Florence Parly to Prague.

       The new weapons will replace obsolete DANA systems that don’t meet NATO standards.

       The deal is part of the ongoing modernization of the Czech armed forces.

       In a separate recently announced $600 million deal, the Czechs will acquire a new air defense SPYDER system for its military from the Israeli state-run company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.