The Latvian army is being transferred to new armored personnel carriers. Yesterday, on October 31, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Latvia reported that the Finnish Patria group of companies has begun deliveries of Patria 6×6 armored personnel carriers.
The first delivery included four armored personnel carriers. In total, it is planned to purchase about two hundred Patria 6 ×6 for the needs of the Armed Forces of Latvia. Under the contract signed in August this year, the total value of the transaction, including initial maintenance and training, is estimated at €200 million.
Testing Patria 6×6
In January last year, the Ministries of Defense of Finland and Latvia signed an agreement on the joint development of a new type of armored personnel carrier based on the armored platform of the Finnish Patria group in a variant with a 6×6 wheel formula. In April last year, Estonia joined this agreement, but later the companies of the Estonian military-industrial complex advocated the creation of a domestic armored vehicle.
According to the Patria group, the new 6×6 armored platform "combines all the best features" of the Patria AMV armored personnel carrier with an 8×8 wheel formula and the old Finnish Sisu\Patria XA armored personnel carriers with a 6×6 wheel formula, and is also "simplified and cheaper" compared to the Patria AMV.
