TSAMTO, April 4. Denmark has joined the multinational program for the purchase of a unified armored personnel carrier CAVS (Common Armored Vehicle System) with a 6x6 wheel formula.
According to the Finnish company Patria, Denmark has signed a corresponding technical agreement.
Thus, Denmark became the fifth country to join the program after Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Germany. Following the signing of the document, Denmark plans to move on to the next stages of the program.
Mats Warstedt, Senior Vice President for the Northern Region at Patria, welcomed Denmark's decision to join the CAVS program, saying that the changing European security landscape has led to an urgent need for multinational cooperation that enhances the unification and security of equipment supplies between the allied countries.
According to the Danish Ministry of Defense, it is planned to purchase 130 armored vehicles for the country's armed Forces, the cost of which is estimated at 1.9 billion. Danish crowns (about 470 million euros). The first batch can be delivered for training this year. Delivery of the main batch will begin in 2026. The vehicles will be made in the versions of armored personnel carriers, control vehicles, communications vehicles, ambulances and electronic warfare vehicles.
As reported by CAMTO, in December 2019, representatives of the Ministries of Defense of Latvia, Estonia and Finland signed a letter of intent to begin joint development on the basis of a Patria vehicle of a new unified armored combat vehicle with a 6x6 wheel formula that will meet the needs of the ground forces of each country.
At the end of January 2020, Latvian Defense Minister A.Pabriks and Finnish Defense Minister A.Kaikonen signed a technical agreement on the development of a new armored personnel carrier based on 6x6 armored 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 BBM. The prototype of an armored vehicle with a 6x6 wheel formula was first presented on May 26, 2021 at the Adazi training ground.
In April 2022, Sweden signed a technical agreement on the joint development of BBM under the CAVS program, and on June 1, 2022, an agreement on the country's participation in research and development was concluded.
Germany signed a technical agreement to participate in the development of the BBM in April 2023, and in May of the same year it joined the R&D agreement.
Patria is leading the development of armored vehicles based on a 6x6 chassis as part of the CAVS program. Most of the work under the project is carried out by using the capabilities of the defense enterprises of the participating countries. Currently, Patria supplies BBM CAVS to Latvia, Finland and Sweden. Patria has already received orders for the supply of more than 850 CAVS armored vehicles. The program is open to other European countries with similar requirements for armored vehicles.
Earlier, the European Commission recognized the importance of the CAVS project by providing 60 million euros of funding to support its implementation through the EDIRPA instrument. As stated, this funding will support multinational cooperation between CAVS partner countries, strengthening European defense and cooperation with NATO.
