TSAMTO, April 18. On April 17, the Finnish company Patria announced the signing of a contract with the Swedish Armed Forces Material Support Agency (FMV) for the purchase of 20 Patria armored vehicles with a 6x6 wheel formula.
The first deliveries of armored vehicles, which in Sweden will receive the name "Pansarterrangbil 300", will be completed during 2023.
The purchase of the BBM is carried out within the framework of the program for the development of a unified armored vehicle CAVS (Common Armored Vehicle System) with a 6x6 wheel formula implemented by several European countries. Currently, its participants are Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Germany.
The BBM will be delivered in a version for transporting troops, which is made using new technologies and provides protection for up to 12 people. As stated, the vehicle is modular and can be reconfigured to perform a wide range of tasks, including command and control, as well as medical evacuation.
Earlier, the Swedish Armed Forces operated the Patria XA BBM with a 6x6 wheel formula and the AMV with an 8x8 wheel formula for more than three decades in various conditions and countries of the world.
As reported by TSAMTO, on December 17, 2019 in Tallinn (Estonia), representatives of the Ministries of Defense of Latvia, Estonia and Finland signed a letter of intent to begin joint development on the basis of Patria armored vehicles of a new unified armored combat vehicle with a 6x6 wheel formula that will meet the needs of the ground forces of each country.
On January 29, 2020, Latvian Defense Minister A.Pabriks and Finnish Defense Minister A.Kaikonen signed a technical agreement to increase the mobility of the armed forces of Latvia and Finland by developing a new armored vehicle based on 6x6 vehicles manufactured by Patria. Estonia later signed the technical agreement, but subsequently decided not to join the R&D agreement.
In October 2020, Latvia, Finland and Patria Land Oy signed an agreement on R&D involving the development of a BBM adapted to national requirements. The prototype of the new Patria armored vehicle with a 6x6 wheel formula was presented on May 26, 2021 at the Adazi training ground.
In August 2021, the Ministries of Defense of Finland and Latvia and Patria signed a framework agreement on the management of the production stage of the BBM with a 6x6 wheel formula.
In November 2021, Patria handed over the first four BBM CAVS to the Latvian Armed Forces. Pre-production samples for the Finnish Armed Forces were delivered in June 2022.
Sweden has announced its intention to join the CAVS program at the end of 2021. In April 2022, FMV signed a technical agreement with Estonia, Finland and Latvia on the joint development of BBM within the framework of the program, and on June 1, 2022, an agreement on participation in the R&D stage was concluded.
Sweden became the third country to join this stage. It was assumed that Sweden would invest 3.1 million euros ($3.32 million) in joint development and get access to the results of previously completed work.
It is estimated that the total demand of the Swedish Armed Forces for a BBM with a 6x6 wheel formula is several hundred units, which will be purchased during the 2020s.
