The contract, valued at 47 million kronor, was awarded to Equipnor AB, which imports the suits from Finnish Ursuit Oy. According to a post on LinkedIn from Equipnor, the contract includes 5,000 suits.
FMV has already made an initial call-off to begin replacing the old suits, with a partial delivery planned for November 2024. The suits, also known as 1H suits, are to replace the current suits that have reached the end of their lifespan.
According to the agency, the new suits are improved with better wear protection on exposed areas such as the seat, knees, and elbows, and are made from a more modern and lighter material. The framework agreement includes two types of rescue suits with different colours, orange for surface combat ships and black for the amphibious corps.
– The current rescue suits are 20–30 years old and can hardly be repaired anymore. The new suits are quite similar to the current ones, but we have specified better wear protection on the seat, knee, and elbows, where they wear a lot. The new suits are also made from a more modern material, they are slightly lighter and have a plastic zipper instead of metal, says Marcela Nilsson, strategic buyer at FMV, in the press release.