The period of the First Republic
In 1918, the Czechoslovak Republic was established, and it is clear that the young state needed to build an army capable of responding to external threats for its defence. Building an army is also related to the need to materially equip this army in such a way that it is able to fulfil the set tasks. In the Czechoslovak Republic, it was possible to rely on a strong industrial base, especially the Czech arms factories, which supplied the army of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy with technology and material. It can be stated that the deliveries from these arms factories were at a high technical level. The need to equip the army is also related to the need to build a body that would be responsible in particular for the implementation of independent control and acceptance activities. This fact was based on experience from the time of Austria-Hungary, when the Austro-Hungarian army supervised the production of military equipment with its own technical bodies.
During the period of the First Republic, the Military Technical Offices (ZTÚ) were established under the technical department of the Ministry of National Defence (MND), divided according to expertise and located at the main final suppliers. Supervisory bodies of the military administration operated in those Technical Offices. The supervisory bodies mainly performed control and acceptance activities for the benefit of the Ministry of National Defence.
Until 1938, the following Technical Offices existed:
- Plzeň
- Adamov
- Brno
- Považská Bystrica
- Vlašim
- Semtín
- Strakonice
- Praha
- Vsetín
- Dubnica nad Váhom
- Uherský Brod
1938—1945
During the Second World War, the Czechoslovak arms industry was forced to participate in the supply of equipment and material for the German army. The German army had its own supervisory and receiving authorities created to monitor the quality and completeness of supplies. Those bodies were established under the Ordnance and War Economy Office.
1945—2000
The period from 1945 to 2000 is long and marked by a whole series of political and economic changes as well as changes in the defence sector. The military acceptance authorities were initially included in the structures of the Armed Forces Technical Offices under the technical and aviation-technical department of the MND. In 1951, there was a substantial reorganization of this component as well, the organization of representatives of the military administration (ZVS) was created, incorporated under the main economic administration of the Ministry of Defence. The main change in the technical area was the fact that ZVS focused on control and monitoring during the entire production process. The original supervisory authorities under the Military Technical Office were mainly concerned with final inspection and acceptance.
In 1955, the ZVS was divided into individual command types of troops and material managers. In 1976, the Military Receipt Administration of the MoD was created with the merger of the ZVS under a single command, except for rear materials (fuel, provisions, gear). This structure lasted until 1989, when an unfortunate series of reorganizations began, especially the most unsuccessful was the reorganization in 1993 accompanied by the opinion that quality is not important, but the main and only criterion is the price of the product. The ZVS were integrated into the Office of Receipt of Technology and Material (ÚřPTM), which fell under the Logistics Command of the GŠ. This year, the organizational structure of the ZVS branches was adjusted - 5 branches were created (Prague, Pardubice, Nový Jičín, Brno, Vodochody).
Since 1997, the situation gradually began to improve, the Military Office of Standardization, Cataloguing and Quality Control (VÚSKŘJ) was created, which was incorporated within the property section and later, from 2000, within the National Armaments Office as the Main Office of Standardization, Cataloguing and State Quality Assurance (HÚSKSOJ MO).
2001 onwards
Since 1 October 2001, this Office has been renamed the Defence Standardization, Codification and Government Quality Assurance Authority (in the sense of Act 309/2000 Coll.). The year 2001 is also very important for the field of state verification, Act 309/2000 Coll. became effective on 1 April 2001 and is the basis for all processes related to state quality assurance from that date. It is being gradually implemented into follow-up documents, and the relevant passages of the law are applied in particular during the preparation and implementation of arms contracts. The Authority fulfils its obligations not only for the Department of Defence, but also for other state customers, including foreign ones, it fulfils its obligations on behalf of the Czech Republic and is set up above the ministry.
State verification of the quality of products intended for national defence is not something completely new in the Czech Republic, but with the adoption of Act 309/2000 Coll., the whole issue connected with the quality of products and services received the required seriousness.
