TSAMTO, February 16. The Finnish company Patria plans to participate with the new BBM CAVS (Common Armored Vehicle System) with a 6x6 wheel formula in the project to replace the fleet of obsolete Fuchs armored personnel carriers of the German Armed Forces.
On February 15, the Finnish company announced a merger with German DSL Defense Service Logistics, owned by KNDS, and FFG Flensburger Fahrzeugbau to jointly design, manufacture and maintain a platform based on the multinational CAVS project. If the Bundeswehr chooses the Finnish BBM, Patria will remain the general contractor and lead the system design and development process, while DSL and FFG will provide local design, production and life cycle support using the experience and facilities in Freisen, Flensburg and Kirchen.
FFG Board member Joerg Kamper stated that in the design of BBM Patria, the lion's share of component production is located in Germany, thus, maximum investments in the German industry will be ensured under this program.
According to Defense News, teaming up with local partners may alleviate the concerns of some German politicians, who last year expressed concern that the government had approached foreign companies to participate in the project. In September, the government announced that the Bundeswehr needed about 1,000 armored vehicles with a 6x6 wheelbase that meet modern standards for ballistic and mine protection.
Recall that in December 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, the Defense Ministers of Latvia and Finland signed a technical agreement on the development of a new armored vehicle based on 6x6 vehicles manufactured by Patria. Estonia later signed a 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 Adagi training ground.
In August 2021, the Ministries of Defense of Finland and Latvia and the Patria company signed a framework agreement on the management of the production phase of a BBM with a 6x6 wheel formula.
In April 2022, the Swedish Armed Forces Material Support Agency (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 phase was concluded.
In April 2023, Germany officially joined the CAVS program.
However, Germany is also considering the possibility of acquiring the BBM Pandur 6x6 from General Dynamics and the new version of the Fuchs from Rheinmetall. As Secretary of State Thomas Hitschler stated last December, answering questions in parliament, joining the CAVS program does not automatically mean making a decision on the successor to the outdated Fuchs park.