VIDEO. Absurd situation: it is impossible to register “Patria” armored vehicles, which are fully produced in Latvia, because this is not provided for in the legislation

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there has been constant talk that Europe needs to become more independent in order to produce and supply its own armies. As military analysts say, the advantage of the USA is that it has one army command and its own arsenal. While the economy in the European Union is fragmented – 27 separate armies and almost every large country has its own different armaments – 30 types of tanks, 20 types of aircraft. And more than 170 different types of weapons, TV3’s “Nothing Personal” reported.

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We in Europe spend a lot of money on armaments, but the capabilities we get are not commensurate with what we spend. Therefore, the key word is cooperation. As, for example, the Finnish armored vehicle “Patria” project, the construction of which has already involved several countries. From this month, part of “Patria” will be completely produced in Latvia. As the TV3 program “Nothing personal” found out, they cannot be registered with us, as this is not provided for in the law at all.

Unlike Lithuania and Estonia, during the 30 years of restored independence, the transport base of the Latvian army was not supplemented with modern new equipment for moving soldiers. We had settled with used or old vehicles given by our partners. At the beginning of 2020, the ministries of defense of Latvia and Finland agreed that they would develop a new system of armored vehicles, which would be based on the “6×6” car base produced by the Finnish company “Patria”.

The “Patria” company began producing six-wheeled armored personnel carriers in the eighties of the last century. It is relatively simple and that is why it is also called a battlefield taxi.

At the beginning, it was thought that Estonia was also involved in the project, but the Estonians withdrew from it. Sweden and Germany have joined in their place. Soon, the company came out with the improved version of the machine “Patria XA-300”, the creation of which also involved Latvian businessmen. The new armored vehicle weighs up to 22 tons, is able to drive not only on land, but also swim on water, crossing rivers and lakes. Able to overcome trenches up to 1 m wide, transport 10 soldiers in full equipment. For self-defense, a rotating machine gun platform with machine gunner’s protective armor is placed on the roof.

When concluding the contract with the Finns, Latvia insisted that a part of the production should take place in us in order to increase the security of defense supplies and give an incentive to the development of the local defense industry. The first cars were delivered to the Latvian army for testing already in 2021. Most of them were assembled in Finland, in Latvia they were equipped only with individual parts

In the near future, it is planned that the company “EMJ Metāls” and five other companies, which bought additional equipment and trained employees in recent years, will actually start full-scale production of PATRIA armored vehicles in Latvia. Engines and several other complex equipment will still be made in the Finnish factory, but the frame, body and armor will be produced and assembled here.

“Until now, in Latvia, we carried out partial assembly, and we carried out this assembly on already tested machines. Starting this month, we start full-cycle production in Latvia. As a result, we are discovering new challenges that have not been anticipated so far,” Uģis Romanovs, chairman of the board of Patria Latvia, told “Nothing personal”.

The challenges faced by “Patria Latvia” were publicly discussed for the first time last Tuesday in the Saeima. There, several companies from the defense industry had come to the first meeting of a specially created subcommittee for the development of the innovation ecosystem of the Saeima. Several of them harshly criticized the Ministry of Defense, that it lacks a strategic vision, that there is no active leadership from the Minister of Defense, that there is not enough money for innovations to develop new products. And the “Patria” project is also in danger due to disordered laws.

“Patria Latvia” assures that the problem is really as it was stated in the Saeima commission. Previously, practically ready-made machines were delivered to the workshop in Cēsis from Finland. But they were missing some parts – communication systems, seats and others in total 250. It takes an average of 1000 hours to complete one “Patria” car. Until now, the Latvian side’s contribution to the scope of work was 150-200 hours. In recent years, the six local companies involved in the project have prepared equipment to such an extent that all 1,000 hours for the production of armored vehicles will take place in Latvia – they will be built from scratch.

And as completely new transport units, each of them needs to be tested. Both off-road and after driving 200 kilometers on public roads. Only now has it been revealed that these cars built entirely in Latvia will not be able to be registered.

The response of the Ministry of Defense to TV3’s “Nothing personal” is as follows: “The defense industry has received a request from SIA “Defence Partnership Latvia” to find a solution to the issue of testing “Patria 6×6″ vehicles before handing them over to the National Armed Forces. The solution is necessary, because the current regulatory framework of Latvia does not determine issues related to the full-cycle production of serial vehicles.”

See more in the attached TV3 video here:

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