STUTTGART, Germany — Sweden has become the third nation to order new armored personnel carriers under a joint European research-and-development effort, following Finland and Latvia, and soon to be followed by Germany.
The nation’s Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) ordered 20 6x6 vehicles on April 17, after joining the multinational Common Armored Vehicle Systems (CAVS) program last year, according to Finnish manufacturer Patria.
Deliveries of the “Pansarterrängbil 300″ – as the vehicles will be called in Sweden – will begin within 2023. Designed for troop transportation of up to 12 personnel, the vehicle will be modular and can also be configured for other purposes, such as command and control, or ambulance duties.
Stockholm plans to ultimately buy several hundred 6x6 vehicles under the CAVS program at a unit price of 11 million kronor (U.S. $1.06 million), according to reporting by Swedish publication SVT. The order was hailed by Patria and Swedish officials as a demonstration of Finnish-Swedish cooperation, as the engine and armor are developed by Swedish suppliers including Scania AB.
Meanwhile, Germany also took a new step into the effort by officially signing the technical arrangement for CAVS on April 17, making it a formal member of the project that currently includes Finland, Latvia, and Sweden, said Patria. The company is majority owned by the state of Finland, with Norwegian arms company Kongsberg also an owner.
Latvia and Finland first signed a mutual research-and-development agreement in 2020, then signed the CAVS framework agreement the following year. Since 2021, Riga has begun receiving what will eventually be a 200-strong fleet of 6x6 armored personnel carriers, with deliveries to continue through 2029. Meanwhile, Helsinki began receiving its pre-series testing vehicles last summer and is expecting to order 160 in total, per Patria.
Vivienne Machi is a reporter based in Stuttgart, Germany, contributing to Defense News' European coverage. She previously reported for National Defense Magazine, Defense Daily, Via Satellite, Foreign Policy and the Dayton Daily News. She was named the Defence Media Awards' best young defense journalist in 2020.
