Lithuania's M577s upgraded
Germany's Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) has upgraded 22 M577 armoured personnel carriers for the Lithuanian armed forces, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence announced on 28 November.
The upgraded M577s will be used for command and control of Lithuania's PzH2000 howitzers. The 22 upgraded vehicles are planned to be transferred to the General Romualdas Giedraitis Artillery Battalion based in Rukla in 2019.
The total value of the upgrade contract amounts to €1.5 million ($1.71 million). Lithuanian enterprise UAB Autokurtas was contracted to complete part of the work with maintenance technology supplied by FFG. A new command and control system will be integrated in future.
The Lithuanian armed forces procured more than 180 M577 armoured personnel carriers for command, indirect fire support, medical evacuation and training purposes from the German armed forces, along with 21 PzH2000 howitzers and 10 BPZ2 armoured recovery vehicles in 2015-2016.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Land Warfare
-
Romania opens the chequebook and reorganises as it watches Russian aggression
Romania is retiring old systems, some Soviet, and replacing them with western equipment from countries such as Sweden and Turkey and boosting existing modern fleets.
-
Milrem picks Texelis for partnership in drive to develop large UGV
Milrem has delivered or is building a total of 200 Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System UGVs and has chosen Texelis as partner in its effort to develop a UGV.
-
Sweden takes delivery of first M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system
The most recent nation to join NATO has joined other member nations in using the M3 system.
-
CV90 delivery to Slovakia imminent
Slovakia is undergoing a radical refresh of its equipment, like many central and eastern European countries, and the arrival of new vehicles will form a substantial part of this.
-
Mortar mobility: Patria’s TREMOS takes aim at the modern battlespace
In conversation... Patria’s Lauri Pauniaho talks to Shephard's Gerrard Cowan about how high mobility levels are essential for mortar systems in the face of modern counter-battery fire, and how a new platform-agnostic module can combine existing vehicles and mortar barrels into a cost-effective new weapon system.