WARSAW, Poland — Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď has announced Patria’s AMVXP armored vehicle obtained the highest score in the tender to modernize the country’s outdated fleet dominated by Soviet-designed machines.
“The Finnish government’s offer of Patria AMVXP was evaluated by the project’s expert team as the best of the five submitted offers (The Czech Republic, Finland, Romania, Spain, and the US),” Naď wrote in a Facebook post.
Naď said that the program’s feasibility study had been submitted to the Value for Money Department of the Slovak Ministry of Finance. The unit evaluates the government’s planned purchases with regards to their economic efficiency.
“We will reveal more information soon,” the minister said.
Under the program, Slovakia is to acquire at least 76 armored vehicles. Bratislava plans to spend about €332.2 million (US$366.3 million) on new eight-wheel-drive vehicles, according to the feasibility study.
The minister did not disclose the entities that submitted their offers. However, local media report the pitched vehicles included the Pandur II, Piranha V, and Dragón vehicles offered by General Dynamics European Land Systems and its partners from the Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia, respectively, and the Stryker, put forward by General Dynamics Land Systems.
Meanwhile, the Slovak ministry is also planning to purchase some 156 tracked infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for the country’s military under a deal estimated to be worth €1.739 billion, with a recommendation on the selected vehicle expected by the end of June.
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
