Finland and Latvia proceed with R&D for common 6x6 vehicle

The governments of Finland and Latvia signed a product development agreement with Finnish manufacturer Patria on 15 October, to pursue R&D of a common armoured vehicle based on the Patria 6x6 wheeled chassis.

Finland is leading the initiative. The agreement is worth about €7.3 million ($8.6 million) and  followed a letter of intent signed by Finland and Latvia in January 2020.

‘The agreement makes it possible to build a comprehensive approach to develop common maintenance, logistics, training solutions or product development packages,’ the Finnish MoD noted in a statement.

Estonia joined the programme in April although it is not included in the latest R&D agreement.

Patria will manufacture a prototype multifunctional 6x6 platform to operate as an APC or C2 vehicle. Other vehicle variants may be developed at a later stage.

The product R&D phase is scheduled to end in late 2021. Afterwards the partner countries are expected to begin negotiations on potential procurement, although initial deliveries of the new 6x6 vehicles could be carried out in 2021.

Shephard Defence Insight notes that the acquisition schedule, number of vehicles ordered and variants developed will depend upon each individual country, while cost will be determined by the total volume of units ordered across all prospective users.

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