Joint Patria 6×6 vehicle development programme proceeds as planned ~ successful demo tour in Latvia and increased interest in the programme.
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Press Release, Helsinki, 31 May 2021: As part of the joint 6×6 vehicle development programme, a demo tour was held in Latvia in May, where the Patria 6×6 vehicle was presented live to the Latvian Armed Forces and Minister of Defence. At the event, the Latvian Armed Forces tested the mobility, features, and capability of the vehicle under conditions that correspond to actual operations and usage of the vehicle. More than a hundred persons of the Latvian Armed Forces got chance test the vehicle, as well as test the vehicle’s loading capacity for special purposes. Also, the representatives of the Finnish Ministry of Defence and the Finnish Defence Forces attended the event.
The demo tour culminated in the Industry Day, with the Latvian companies’ industrial network, which has an essential role in the vehicle programme. Security of supply, including local industry participation, is a natural part of Patria’s business model to enable a cost-effective supply chain which benefits all involved parties.
“The Patria 6×6 vehicle received excellent feedback and we are pleased to have been able to present the vehicle concretely and prove our speech and promises of all its top features to be true. The vehicle has been proven to be very suitable for this joint programme and we are proud to be involved in it”, says Jussi Järvinen, President of Patria’s Land business unit.
The joint vehicle development programme has aroused interest in other countries as well. “The programme is open to other countries with the mutual consent of the participating countries. In general, this common vehicle system will improve the mobility, cost-effectiveness, interoperability, and security of supply of armies in the participating countries”, confirms Järvinen.
Finland and Latvia have agreed on a joint collaborative development programme to improve the mobility of the army to which Patria 6×6 was chosen as a vehicle platform. The aim of this joint programme has been to develop a common armoured wheeled vehicle system, including various versions and support system.
Currently, the programme is in the Research and Development (R&D) phase, which means engineering and development work, so that the basic vehicle platform, versions and the total system, including the support system, are to be developed further according to the specific needs of participating countries. At this phase, the vehicle has also been successfully tested with many different capability tests, including challenging winter conditions in Lapland, Latvian environment, and the overall usability of the vehicle.
