Companies confirm on NBS Industry Day – military production in Latvia is not sleeping / Article

Entrepreneurs from Latvia are capable of being specialists in any field, and this was proven on Wednesday at the NBS industry day. Different types of drones, ammunition, cars and even food. All this – produced and usable in Latvia.

For example – military amphibians. The company “Ripo remonta centrs” gives a new life to the interesting-looking all-terrain vehicle, so that soldiers and national guardsmen can both move more easily and move military equipment. Already 20 amphibians have received a new lease of life, and most of them are used by national guards.

Oskars Stranga, the representative of the company “Ripo remonta centrs”, said: “From non-running gasoline engines, which have been equipped with carburetor systems since the 70s, with high fuel consumption, a diesel engine is put inside and an economy is created in a sense.”

On the other hand, for example, the company “Vairog EU” produces ammunition for a year and a half. The road to this point has already been made some time ago, when it made equipment that produces the ammunition itself. Now the company cooperates with NBS.

The representative of “Vairog EU” company Juris Užulis said: “We have our own ballistics testing laboratory, which is here in Latvia. It is a unique thing that does not exist in neighboring countries. We can test our manufactured ammunition, study ballistics and immediately improve accordingly, change the composition , raw materials.”

Since the company is located in Latvia, it is able to respond quickly to any message, as, for example, the production of one cartridge takes about 4 minutes.

On the day of the industry, an unmanned aerial vehicle fully developed and assembled in Latvia could be viewed as a target in air defense exercises. This model can fly up to 300 kilometers away and also carry cargo. Oskars Sīmanis, chairman of the board of the “Temeso” company, said: “This is specifically our latest model with a flight range of up to 300 kilometers, which, of course, is not necessary for such a variant. But it also has the ability to place a load of up to 6.5 kilograms. Our aircraft are manufactured from the flax composite. That’s why they get knocked down in training. We try to reduce that kind of impact on nature.”

The Industry Day is mainly for companies to show their products and also possibly make new contacts. In total, 40 different Latvian companies took part in the event – all fully ready to provide the country with what it needs.

Minister of Defense Andris Spruds (“Progressives”) stated: “We need to more accurately map, identify more precisely those products that are locally produced and that we need. And thus, giving precise, clear signals to our industry in which areas we need must cooperate and in which we must find a common language.”

At the same time, we should also look for foreign cooperation partners, so that part of their production could be localized in Latvia as well.