On August 30 Pabriks and Finnish Minister of Defense Antti Kaikkonen signed an agreement on the purchase of 6x6 armored vehicles from Patria, with 200 to be supplied by 2029 at a cost of 200 million euros, which includes the delivery of vehicles, initial maintenance and staff training.
It is planned that the maintenance, repair and future modifications of the armored vehicles will be performed in Latvia to stimulate the local economy and ensure security of supply, which was one of the preconditions set by Latvia when starting the research and development phase of the 6x6 vehicle platform.
Currently, Latvia and Finland are participating jointly in the new 6x6 armored vehicle project, and Sweden has shown interest in getting involved. Although Estonia later suspended its participation in the project after signing a letter of intent with Latvia and Finland, it and any other allied country will have the opportunity to get involved again in future.
Below you can see the vehicles being put through their paces earlier this year at a demonstration day. According to the manufacturer, the Patria 6x6 is "modular and high-performance, but at the same time simple, robust and affordable to provide this tactical capability in larger fleet quantities. It provides modern protection and extreme mobility" and is used for combat support roles with a projected service life of "more than 30 years".
