Sweden to join Common Armoured Vehicle System programme

Sweden has announced that it wants to join the Finnish-led CAVS 6×6 vehicle programme. (Patria)

Sweden has announced that it wants to join the Finnish-led Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) programme, Patria announced in a press release on 14 December.

The announcement came a month-and-a-half after Latvia received the first four Patria 6×6 armoured peronnel carriers (APCs) under the joint vehicle programme with Finland. Jussi Järvinen, president of Patria's Land Business Unit, said CAVS would “improve the mobility, cost-effectiveness, co-operation capabilities, and maintenance capacity of the participating countries”. The programme “is a very cost-effective solution for participating countries”, he added.

Latvian armed forces personnel completed two weeks of user, instructor, and maintenance training at Patria in Hämeenlinna, Finland, in October to prepare operating the vehicles. The Latvian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said maintenance, repair, and the possible modernisation of the armoured vehicles would be performed in Latvia.

Latvia signed a contract with Patria on 30 August for more than 200 6×6 APCs worth around EUR200 million (USD225.4 million), including support and training systems, for delivery by 2029. In addition, the Finnish MoD and Patria signed a letter of intent (LOI) to order 160 new APCs for Finland in 2023.

Finland, Latvia, and Patria also signed a frame agreement in late August for the production phase management of the programme.

With Sweden's intention to join CAVS, Patria reiterated that the programme is open to other countries on the mutual consent of participating countries.

Latvia, Estonia, and Finland signed an LOI on CAVS in December 2019. Latvia and Finland signed a technical agreement in January 2020 to develop a new 6×6 armoured vehicle system based on Patria vehicles. Estonia later signed the technical agreement but has since suspended its participation in the project.