Finnish-Latvian security agreement sealed with opening of new Patria armoured vehicle production factory in Latvia.

It is a rare moment when two Prime Ministers, Petteri Orpo from Finland, and Evika Sili?a from Latvia, give up their precious time to come to the opening of factory. Especially so, when that factory is in the small city of Valmiera in Central Latvia. They were not alone there either. At the opening of the Finnish Defence firm Patria factory was the CEO of Patria, Esa Rautalinko, with his key Patria management, the Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spruds, the Mayor of Valmiera Janis Baiks and a large host of other dignitaries and diplomats. There was also a serious cohort of media in attendance from both Finland and Latvia.

So, what was the excitement all about? This opening was the manifestation in bricks and mortar of a security and procurement agreement signed in 2020 between the governments of Finland and Latvia. Patria Finland had to deliver a Joint Common Armoured Vehicle 6x6 System (CAVS) programme?of 200 vehicles for the Latvian Armed Forces. This was not just a buyer-seller agreement as the deal included common research and development. To ensure there was long term security for Latvia, a key part of the two-nation deal was to create a vehicle production factory and include other Latvian companies in delivering the body parts of the vehicle. The long-term sustainability plan includes a Life Cycle Management contract now waiting to be signed between Latvia and Finland. This contract is based around the Patria OPTIME concept designed to support customer needs and requirements to maximise the 6x6 fleet availability for the whole time the vehicles are operating in the Latvian armed forces. This could be 30 years or more, so the contract is no sinecure. Importantly this contract will also be available for the other CAVS participants.??

The genesis of the CAVS programme was that both Finland and Latvia recognised they needed a similar vehicle for their armed forces. The subsequent negotiations of the agreement at political level bound Finland to Latvia through Patria. The Finnish PM rightly called this “concept of cooperation as unique.” ?Remarkably the agreement was signed before Finland even Joined NATO.

Since the work started between Finland and Latvia, both Sweden and Germany have joined the CAVS project. Now at least 700 6x6 vehicles are ordered. Today Patria is in the process in Germany of creating industrial teams similar to those in Latvia both for 6x6 production and to ensure long term security of supply.? Finland is also looking at the UK market for the 6x6 where the recent UK Government Land Industrial Strategy paper highlights the army’s need for protected mobility platforms, multi-role, and general support utility vehicles. UK also needs a future all-terrain vehicle and coincidentally Patria is heavily involved in developing a new all-terrain vehicle as they lead the EU “FAMOUS” project designing a replacement for the renown BV series vehicle.

UK is an important market for Patria as British forces have a key deployment role in the Northern Region as the lead member of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Estonia. UK also has pre-NATO membership security agreements with both Finland and Sweden. So, with Latvia, Germany, and Sweden purchasing the 6x6 vehicle and Poland both producing and deploying Patria 8x8 vehicles, Patria will become a leading provider and supporter of infantry armoured vehicles in the forces deployed in the northern European countries led by the NATO Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast. UK inside the CAVS programme would be a serious addition to this with vehicle commonality and collaborative activity.

Significantly the Patria programme across the whole CAVS project binds Finland both militarily and more importantly politically, to the NATO military presence in the Baltics and Poland (and of course the reverse) in a way that simple paper agreements cannot do.

The Patria concept of decentralising production to their client countries is also a masterstroke of business and politics. Historically the use of “offset” where an equipment provider company has to deliver economic producing activity in the purchasing country has been seen as a burden upon the selling company. Offset has produced many strange outcomes in host countries including companies having to build bridges and develop agricultural plants before winning a contract. The Patria programme has turned this idea on its head by effectively creating a collaborative system that on one hand benefits Finland and Patria, and on the other supports and develops the host country economy. At the same time the international collaborative activities serve to enhance the collective operational capability and security of all the countries involved by creating a previously unheard-of level of interoperability between armies. Finland keeps a base production facility in H?meenlinna whilst the production facilities they develop like Valmiera and in Germany give the company and the countries they serve greater flexibility and robustness for supply and maintenance of the 6x6 in both peace and war. UK will of course get the same concept of home production and long-term support as the other CAVS members. The challenge for Patria with UK is not only to deliver commonality of support within the Northern Region but also to support the UK concept of operational independence if UK deploys worldwide.

The first stage of the CAVs project was a joint R&D programme that used the Patria commercial 6x6 vehicle platform as a starting point. The Finnish and Latvian Armed Forces agreed on what they wanted the common core vehicle to be. This early agreement on interoperability was vital for the Patria engineers so they could design the common vehicle frame and identify the parts and spares needed, as well as developing common support elements. This all aimed to speed up, simplify, and later reduce the costs of production. Once the basic model was agreed upon, each country had to identify what they wanted to be built on and around the common frame. Finland for example has ordered some of her 6x6 vehicles to be heavily armoured for international operations. Then vehicles had to be evaluated and qualified to ensure they were fit for purpose. To ensure quality production of the 6x6, the workers for Valmiera were fully trained in Finland before the factory opened. This programme was also arranged for workers in the supporting factories around Latvia that deliver parts needed for 6x6 vehicle assembly both for Finland and the new factory.

Recently both Germany and Sweden have joined the CAVS project research and development, and they are following the same process. One great benefit for Latvia is that the Valmiera factory can be used to step up production and support for other countries if needed.

The joint PMs visit to Valmiera must be mentioned in the same breath as the atrocities in Ukraine. The war was a stimulus for the Latvian purchase of 200 6x6 vehicles and now for Germany and Sweden looking for a quick and simple solution to upgrade their armoured vehicle fleets. One lesson from the war is the need for countries to have more soldiers and larger numbers of protected vehicles. The CAVS programme is significant here. Unlike many highly technical vehicles provided by competitors its simplicity and decentralised production provides the ability to create new vehicles quickly and to build in significant numbers. It is easy to teach new soldiers to manage the vehicle to operational standards. The servicing and maintenance is simple, and the distributed concept allows this to be done in multiple sites by creating a common international logistic support space with spares and support not solely from one single company support base, but from all-around Europe. As one US officer at the Valmiera factory opening remarked pointedly, the beauty of this factory is also that it is north of the Suwalki Gap. The logistics are much more secure. Creating a serious production facility for the 6x6 project in Valmiera was also an important step in the plan for Latvia to create long term value from its own defence Industry. The Patria CAVS concept is not only benefitting Finland and Patria but is now bringing real and visible improvement to the defence of Latvia, NATO and Northern Europe

#Finland #Latvia #Patria #FAMOUS #6x6CAVS