It was announced earlier that the full-cycle production of the armored vehicles would start in May this year at the Defence Partnership Latvia Ltd production facility, and the first vehicle would be ready for testing in July this year at the earliest. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has identified a number of possible solutions to enable the new armored vehicles to be tested here in Latvia.
The MoD indicated that it is planned to produce around 30 Patria armored vehicles per year in Latvia. However, Sprūds told Latvian Radio that 25 Patria armored vehicles are planned to be produced in Latvia this year and delivered to the National Armed Forces (NBS).
The full-cycle production of armored vehicles is an important step in the development of the domestic military industry. The production of armoured personnel carriers is not only essential for the military industry, but also for the development and strengthening of the national industry, according to the ministry.
The legislative and regulatory framework has already been put in place to ensure that military vehicles can be tested on Latvian territory in the future.
The defense sector's cooperation with Defence Partnership Latvia has been successful, and the company has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to meet production and delivery targets, the MoD noted.
It is also important that the production of armored vehicles is part of a transnational cooperation program, which Finland, Sweden and Germany have joined and any other allied country can decide to participate in. The cooperation program aims to carry out research and production of military equipment specifically for the needs of the armed forces of the Member States, the Ministry said.
According to the information available on the portal "Firmas.lv", "Defence Partnership Latvia" in 2022 worked with a turnover of EUR 519 370 and a loss of EUR 129 392. The company was registered in 2020 and has a share capital of EUR 203 777.
Defence Partnership Latvia is co-owned by Patria Latvia Ltd (70.03%), whose sole owner is Patria ISP, registered in Finland, and Unitruck Ltd (29.97%), owned by Normunds Driļevskis.
