The Latvian National Armed Forces will receive the first Patria 6×6 armored personnel carrier, fully manufactured at a local plant, in early August.

The press service of the Latvian Ministry of Defense reported on this.

The APC handover ceremony is to take place on August 5 at the military base in Ādaži.

Before receiving the wheeled armored personnel carrier, the military and representatives of the manufacturer will conduct a series of running tests at the Adazhi military training ground.

To produce the APCs, a new armored vehicle plant was opened in Latvia in May in Valmiera.

It belongs to Defence Partnership Latvia, founded in 2020, which is a joint venture between the Finnish defense concern Patria and the Latvian company Unitruck. Patria holds a controlling stake in the company.

The new production facility is primarily focused on supplying the Latvian defense forces with Patria 6×6 armored personnel carriers. The plant plans to produce about 30 wheeled armored vehicles a year.

Latvia has also launched the production of hulls for Patria 6×6 wheeled armored personnel carriers. The local company EMJ Metāls SIA, which received this right from Patria, is responsible for this. The company has been certified to manufacture APC hulls independently without the involvement of specialists from Finland.

The production and assembly of armored personnel carriers in Latvia is an important element of national security, as it ensures shortened supply chains for the production of military equipment and minimizes the possibility of causing disruptions in the supply of components, as well as in the process of manufacturing and supplying military equipment to the Latvian Armed Forces.

Thus, the Latvian defense industry received a full production cycle, including welding and painting of APC hulls on site.

In October 2020, the Ministries of Defense of Latvia and Finland signed an agreement with Patria to start research and development work on the development of a family of new Patria 6×6 wheeled armored personnel carriers. Some of the components were to be manufactured at EMJ Metāls.

In August 2021, Latvia ordered more than 200 armored personnel carriers as part of a joint program. Deliveries will take place between 2021 and 2029. The first four were delivered in October 2021.