Image source: topwar.ru
Patria AMV XP
The Japanese army has officially received the first AMV XP 8x8 armored fighting vehicle. The body and components were manufactured at Patria's facilities in Finland, and the assembly was carried out at the Japan Steel Works plant in Muroran, Hokkaido.
The Patria AMVs are designed to replace the outdated Type 96 8x8 APC in the Japanese military. Against the background of growing regional threats, it was decided to accelerate the renewal of the park. The local defense industry was unable to offer the 8x8 armored platform in a short time: its own prototypes, although promising, were far from technologically ready.
Therefore, in order to accelerate the replacement of the Type 96 in 2022, a foreign product already in service with a number of countries was selected – the Finnish Patria APC. Tokyo, instead of purchasing a fully finished foreign product (as Poland mostly does, for example), acquired foreign development along with technology transfer and provided local assembly of the product with plans for increasing localization of production.
Image source: topwar.ru
Type 96
The Patria AMV XP is a further development of the Patria AMV model, which has served in a number of Western armies since the early 2000s. Despite the fact that the AMV XP has the same basic architecture as its predecessor, it is significantly superior in almost all respects. Thus, the load capacity has been increased to 15 tons, which is almost 3 tons more than the basic AMV model. This allows you to use heavier protection kits and larger weapons.
Image source: topwar.ru
TTX Type 96
The new generation powerplant has increased power by 13% and significantly improved off-road handling. The XP variant also uses a fully digital vehicle control system, expanded the interior space for crew comfort and additional equipment, and improved mine protection (it can withstand 10 kg of explosives).
The AMV XP features an improved turning radius and ground clearance, which made it possible to adapt the car to urban and mountainous terrain, which is extremely important for operation in the Japanese landscape. The APC has the ability to swim through water obstacles, which may be necessary when defending islands in the disputed outer belt.
