FMV awards Patria contract to upgrade Swedish armoured vehicles

The FMV and Patria have signed a contract for the mid-life upgrade of the Swedish Armed Forces' XA-202 and XA-203 (pictured) 6x6 wheeled armoured vehicles. (FMV)

The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and Patria announced on 8 February that they had signed an approximately SEK300 million (USD32.7 million) contract for the mid-life upgrade of Swedish Armed Forces' XA-202 and XA-203 6x6 wheeled armoured personnel carriers. Patria said in a press release that it would refurbish 168 vehicles at its facilities in Hämeenlinna, Finland, with the upgrades including engine, chassis, electrical, and hydraulic improvements. The FMV said this would extend the vehicles' service lives by 20 years.

Work is to start immediately, with deliveries beginning in 2022 and lasting until the end of 2025. As the vehicles are needed by the Swedish Armed Forces, a rotation plan has been devised for only a few to be upgraded at once, starting with inspection and disarmament at a military workshop in Sweden, said FMV Project Manager Håkan Larsson.

The vehicles were delivered to the Swedish Armed Forces in the early 2000s and exist in armoured personnel carrier; command post; chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN); ambulance; and repair versions. Some of the vehicles have participated in overseas operations in Liberia and Afghanistan.

Brigadier General Mikael Frisell, the FMV's director of Land Systems, said, “The upgraded vehicles will play an important role in the ongoing growth of the armed forces and in increasing the capacity of the units that have armoured off-road vehicles.”

Mats Warstedt, Patria's head of Market Area Nordics, placed the contract in the context of his company's “ambition to be a strategic partner to the armed forces and FMV throughout the entire life cycle of delivered products”.