Sweden and Finland are to jointly evaluate the Patria TrackX through the procurement of pre-series vehicles. According to Jonas Lotsne of the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), the aim is to assess whether the tracked vehicle can meet a capability requirement in subarctic environments, while both countries also seek to build on the joint procurement model used within the multinational Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) programme.

At the Eurosatory defence and security exhibition in Paris on 15 June, the FMV and the Finnish Defence Forces' (Puolustusvoimat) Logistics Command signed what is known as an Implementation Arrangement for Common Arctic Mobility (IA CAM). The agreement enables information sharing and cooperation on the pre-series procurement of the Patria TrackX, as well as potential future acquisitions.

The Swedish part of the trial activity includes the purchase of five TrackX vehicles, which will be evaluated by the Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten).

– We are now joining forces with Finland to share experiences and evaluate the TrackX from Patria. There is much to be gained from doing this work together with Finland, says Jonas Lotsne, Head of the Army Materiel business area at FMV, in a press release.

In an interview with Nordic Defence Sector, Lotsne describes the gap that FMV believes the vehicle could potentially fill.

– If you think about Finland and Sweden, we have roughly the same type of terrain, and it fills a gap related to transport in that kind of terrain, and above all in a subarctic climate. Up in northern Sweden and Finland, he says.

According to a press release from Patria, the TrackX has been developed within the multinational FAMOUS programme, which is co-funded by the European Defence Fund (EDF). The vehicle has been designed to operate in demanding environments and soft terrain, from deep snow and marshland to sand dunes.

During the evaluation, FMV and the Swedish Armed Forces will examine several different aspects of the system.

– When FMV procures materiel, we always test against a number of different aspects. Naturally the technology and the user perspective, but also other things we must take into account, such as environmental requirements and so on. So there are a number of different aspects, says Lotsne.

The cooperation with Finland is not solely about sharing experiences from trials and testing, however. Lotsne also describes an ambition to achieve the same type of standardisation that Sweden and several other European countries are pursuing within the Patria 6x6-based CAVS programme.

– That is the model we have put together with Finland. If the materiel is suitable for Finnish soldiers and also suitable for Swedish soldiers, we achieve interoperability. We gain synergies in spare parts, we can have joint training and education, and we can share experiences regarding the systems as well, he says.

– The ambition to have exactly the same configuration also reduces the requirements placed on industry, which means we can standardise the products and create a simpler case for industry, Lotsne continues.

Both Sweden and Finland will now make their own national decisions on the continued pre-series procurements, and will then assess whether the TrackX is suitable for operational use within their respective armed forces.