FMV has placed an initial order for 20 troop transport vehicles for delivery to the Swedish Armed Forces, called the armored terrain vehicle 300, according to a press release from Patria. The vehicle is the result of a multinational collaboration including Sweden and the industrial company Patria, which Sweden joined last year. The delivery of the first troop transport vehicles to the Armed Forces is planned for early May, with final delivery in October according to FMV's press release.

The research and development agreement Common Armored Vehicle System, CAVS, is thus a multinational collaboration between Sweden, Finland, Latvia, and Germany, as well as the industrial company Patria. It aims to develop an armored vehicle system based on the common requirements of the involved countries.

– This is the fourth generation of Patria vehicles, with a somewhat simpler chassis, but with good subsystems from the previous, more advanced version Patgb 360. This will be a vehicle that is robust, easy to operate, and with low maintenance costs, says Håkan Larsson, project manager at FMV.  

The program is based on avoiding national specific requirements, which is an advantage during series production with a common component flora, but also from a supply perspective in the maintenance phase. It also allows for interoperability.

– Of course, there must be certain Swedish adaptations to the vehicles we have ordered for the Armed Forces, that cannot be avoided. This includes adaptations for communication systems and effect systems, concludes Håkan Larsson.

A prerequisite for the order is that FMV has now signed an agreement to join the Frame Work Agreement, FA, under the CAVS program. This means that FMV can call off vehicles and system materials, which have been jointly developed under the Research and Development Agreement between the nations. The CAVS program also includes a Life Cycle Management Agreement, LCM, where the nations, among other things, share costs for a common system support from the supplier Patria.

So far, the collaboration program has led to a common platform, based on Patria's 6x6 vehicle, and a version for troop transport that meets the common requirements set by the program participants. The vehicles also include various subsystems, including effect systems, protection systems, and night capability.