Defense Partnership Latvia, a Patria majority-owned joint venture, handed over the first Latvian-made Patria 6x6 armored personnel carrier to the Latvian National Armed Forces, according to a press release.
The vehicles were handed over during a ceremony at the military base “Ādaži”.
The Latvian Ministry of Defense had signed a contract with Patria in 2021 for the order of than 200 Patria 6x6 armored vehicles for delivery by 2029.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Latvia Andris Sprūds, Chairman of the Board of Defense Partnership Latvia and Patria Latvia Uģis Romanovs and Acting Commander of the Home Guard Colonel Gunārs Vizulis.
Uģis Romanovs, Chairman of the Board of Defense Partnership Latvia and Patria Latvia: “Over the past four years since Latvia's involvement in the multinational Common Armored Vehicle System (CAVS) program, we have reached the most significant milestone of the project – the delivery of the first armored personnel carrier full-cycle produced in Latvia to the National Armed Forces (NAF). With the opening of the Valmiera plant in May, we are focusing on the Latvian armored personnel carrier order, but we are also actively working to implement other NAF capability development projects in our factory, thereby strengthening both NAF combat capabilities and the Latvian industry and economy as a whole.”
At the end of May, the first and only armored personnel carrier production facility of the Baltics was opened in Valmiera.
It is stated that the facility aims to produce approximately thirty Patria 6x6 armored personnel carriers annually.
Patria 6x6 vehicle was chosen as the platform for the CAVS program, participated already by Finland, Latvia, Sweden, and Germany. The CAVS-related Patria 6x6 deliveries are ongoing besides to Latvia, also to Finland and Sweden, and vehicles are in operational use. Patria has already received orders for nearly 700 Patria 6x6 vehicles and about 200 have already been delivered. The program is open to European countries with similar equipment requirements, subject to participating nations’ approval.
📌Defense Partnership Latvia, a @group_patria majority-owned joint venture, handed over the first Latvian-made Patria 6x6 armored personnel carrier to the Latvian National Armed Forces.
🔗https://t.co/tQSCYfGStl pic.twitter.com/rvyjJF9qEm
— Defensehere (@defensehere_en) August 6, 2024
