In Germany, production of the Bundeswehr’s new standard armoured personnel carrier is getting under way, while in Latvia essentially the same vehicle is already being manufactured.
KNDS Deutschland is ramping up production of Patria 6×6 armoured wheeled vehicles for the Bundeswehr at its facility in Freisen. The defence company plans to deliver the first vehicles at the end of 2026.
Initially, they will be produced in Finland and Latvia, equipped with specialised components for the German army and undergo final assembly at the plant in Saarland.
Serial deliveries to the Bundeswehr are scheduled to begin in early 2027, while German production will increase gradually and at the end of the same year the first of the vehicles built entirely in Freisen will be delivered.
Patria is working with KNDS and other German industrial partners to establish the necessary local manufacturing capacity by combining German and Finnish engineering and expertise.
The initial Bundeswehr order comprises almost 900 armoured 6×6 vehicles in four different configurations, with a total value of around €2 billion. It is the largest single deal in Patria’s history and was placed under the multinational Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) programme. The first pre-series Patria 6×6 vehicles have already been delivered and are being used for testing, operator training, maintenance familiarisation and technical verification.
Adopting the Patria platform is intended to support Germany’s military objective of achieving full combat readiness by 2029. The robust three-axle vehicles will replace the long-serving German made Fuchs armoured personnel carriers, which have been in service since the early 1980s.
The CAVS programme was launched in 2020 as a result of cooperation between Finland and Latvia, with the aim of developing a unified and modern 6×6 armoured vehicle system based on the Patria platform. It has since expanded to include Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom. Vehicles produced under the programme are also already operational in Ukraine through Latvian military assistance.
A key focus of the project is the standardisation of components to meet common requirements and create synergies. The German programme will therefore follow a model similar to the one already established in Latvia, where Patria 6×6 vehicles are produced at a state-of-the-art facility in Valmiera opened in May 2024.
“We call it a battlefield taxi,” says Uģis Romanovs, CEO of Patria Latvia and Defence Partnership Latvia, standing in the production hall next to Patria 6×6 vehicles being manufactured for the Latvian Armed Forces and National Guard.
Latvian companies have been involved in the CAVS programme’s supply chain since its inception, contributing to the development of the Patria 6×6 vehicle that will be on display at the military parade in Riga on 18 November – and soon afterwards will also be produced in Germany.