"I am very pleased to announce that the next country, Sweden, has joined the Patria project, and this coincides with the time when Sweden is preparing to join NATO. It also means that our defense industry will have more work to do, because together with Sweden we will not only continue to develop the 6x6 armored vehicle model, but will also be able to offer it more successfully to our other allies,” said Defense Minister Artis Pabriks.
The agreement means Sweden will have access to the results of the work carried out so far under the 6x6 armored vehicle system research and development program. Sweden will also reimburse previous investments of EUR 3.1 million (excluding VAT) in research and development, which will increase the financial viability of the project.
The aim of the international cooperation program is to develop an armored system based on the common requirements of the participating countries. The 6x6 vehicle produced by Patria Land Oy is the basic platform. Research and development will also continue to develop other 6x6 armored vehicle models and a vehicle system life cycle support system. The program is still open to new countries that might wish to join.
As previously reported, Latvia, Finland and Patria Land Oy signed a research and development agreement on 15 October 2020 to develop a vehicle adapted to national requirements. Later, a general agreement on the purchase of 6x6 armored vehicles from Patria was signed by the Ministers of Defense of Latvia and Finland on August 30 last year at the Ādaži military base. The contract price for the Latvian order is approximately 200 million euros, and this includes the delivery of more than 200 new armored vehicles by 2029, initial maintenance and staff training.
On October 29 last year, Patria already delivered the first four new 6x6 armored vehicles to Latvia in accordance with the terms of the general agreement.
Since March of this year, the 6x6 armored personnel carriers intended for the National Armed Forces have been partially assembled by the Latvian company SIA “Defense Partnership Latvia” in Cēsis. It is planned that from 2023, vehicles will be assembled in Latvia in full.
The 6x6 armored vehicle project should mean the mobility of the National Armed Forces will be significantly strengthened, as well as stimulating local defense sector suppliers.
You can see the vehicle being put through its paces in this recent report from LTV.
