Sweden is purchasing new wheeled armored personnel vehicles from the Finnish defense company Patria, press service of the company reports.

On Monday, April 17, it was reported that Patria had signed a contract with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) to supply 20 Patria 6×6 APCs.

The first deliveries of the new armoured personnel carriers, which will be called the Pansarterrängbil 300 in Sweden, are expected to take place during 2023.

The Patria 6×6 wheel armored vehicle was chosen as a platform in a cooperation program between several European countries called the Common Armored Vehicle System (CAVS).

Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Germany are currently participating in the multinational program. The program provides for the development of a family of armored wheeled vehicles for the armed forces of participating countries.

Deliveries of such armored vehicles to Latvia have been ongoing since the end of 2021, while Finland received the first pre-production armored personnel carriers in the summer of 2022 for testing. Germany officially joined the joint program in April 2023.

Sweden joined the Patria 6×6 research and development program under CAVS in 2022, and this year’s deliveries will be the first steps to meet Sweden’s needs for several hundred new wheeled armored personnel carriers during the 2020s.

Patria 6×6 is designed primarily for troop transportation, the APC has a modular design and can be armed with a wide range of different weapons depending on the needs of the customer. The armored personnel carrier accommodates up to 10 soldiers and a crew of two people (driver and commander).

On its basis it is possible to build a command, medical evacuation and other types of vehicles.

The Swedish armed forces have operated armored personnel carriers of previous generations: Patria XA 6×6 and AMV 8×8 for more than three decades in different conditions.

The company claims that the contract for the new Patria 6×6 proves that these armored vehicles comply with modern requirements.