See the Rugged Armored APC That NATO Allies Are Buying for Arctic War

Alarms blare over the manufacturing unit flooring, and work at Patria’s Hämeenlinna facility grinds to a halt.

The tender thrum of an explosion echoes by way of the campus. Moments later, roughly 700 staff proceed making their armored automobiles sure for Japan, Sweden, Slovakia, and different nations. The blast is just not a test-firing of its new fight automobile, however a part of the development for its increasing manufacturing facility.

Patria, Finland’s largest protection firm, is planning to almost double manufacturing at its predominant hub simply north of Helsinki, clearing rocks with explosives on-site to make means for a number of new meeting traces.

The Hämeenlinna manufacturing unit manufactures Patria’s 8×8 armored personnel service and a comparatively new, up-and-coming automobile: a wheeled 6×6 troop transport that is receiving surging demand from northern and western Europe.

Work on the 25-foot-long, 17-ton automobile started in 2020 underneath a joint program between Finland and Latvia known as the Widespread Armored Automobiles System. Each nations sought a cheap, mass-produced armored vehicle that might be utilized by their militaries for interoperability.

Latvia has since despatched at the least 42 of those automobiles to Ukraine, armed with heavy machine weapons and rolled out in batches during the last 12 months. The automobile can cross tundra and even rivers whereas shielding as much as 10 troops it carries from land mines and artillery fireplace to get them to ahead positions.

When Enterprise Insider visited Patria’s manufacturing unit, representatives for the corporate — which is majority-owned by the state of Finland — mentioned the agency wasn’t approved to share particulars in regards to the 6×6’s performance in Ukraine.

However the CAVS 6×6 program has been rapidly drawing consideration from the remainder of Europe: What started as a partnership between two nations has expanded right into a consortium of seven member states.

Sweden joined the Widespread Armored Automobiles System program in 2022, adopted by Germany, Denmark, the UK, and Norway in subsequent years.

Finland and Latvia have positioned orders for just below 500 of those automobiles, whereas Sweden has requested 415 of the 6×6s to be delivered over the following 5 years. Stockholm’s newest order for 94 automobiles, introduced in early December, priced each at about $1.75 million.

Germany has develop into this system’s largest purchaser, signing contracts in mid-December to amass 876 of the 6×6 automobiles, valued at $2.3 billion. These automobiles might be cut up into 4 variants, together with one which encompasses a mortar turret.

Meanwhile, Denmark, which joined this system this 12 months, has already positioned an order for 129 6×6 automobiles.

The UK and Norway are nonetheless negotiating 6×6 orders with Patria.

Contained in the CAVS 6×6

The CAVS 6×6 can accommodate roughly 10 troops, together with a typical crew of two or three, and options as much as NATO commonplace stage 4 armor designed to resist direct hits from large-caliber machine gun fireplace, mine explosions, and close by artillery blasts.

The CAVS 6×6 competes with different wheeled troop transports, reminiscent of Rheinmetall’s Boxer and General Dynamics Land Systems’ Stryker, the latter of which is extensively fielded by the US Military.

The Finnish firm mentioned it will possibly tweak the automobile for every buyer’s wants, however a typical mannequin options local weather management that allows the automobile to function in temperatures as little as -40°F.

“Inside, it is going to be snug sufficient to simply survive. We’re speaking about temperatures of the plus centigrades,” Mikko Rantanen, Patria’s director for six×6 automobile packages, instructed Enterprise Insider from contained in the rear compartment of one of many automobiles.

The 6×6’s rear inside is spartan: Fabric-covered metal-frame seats and headrests for 5 folks on both facet, with house behind every seat for tools and small arms.

There’s simply sufficient room for a soldier to sit down with their knees touching the alternative passenger’s. A number of fireplace extinguishers inside are linked to an computerized suppression system that may detect a blaze within the rear cabin.

Screens permit troops to see outdoors the automobile by way of exterior cameras, whereas a rear hatch supplies the choice of becoming a machine gun or crewed weapon module on prime of the 6×6.

On the right-hand facet of the automobile, a small passageway additionally lets troops go between the rear compartment and the driving force’s cabin, which resembles that of a truck and options an computerized gearbox.

Elective propellers on the 6×6’s underside allow it to transition seamlessly from traversing land to crossing small our bodies of water, reminiscent of rivers or lakes.

“We are able to enter the water while not having preparation on this configuration,” mentioned Rantanen.

Nevertheless, the 6×6’s velocity within the water is just below 5 mph, and Rantanen added that it isn’t meant to be a touchdown craft or amphibious assault automobile.

On land, it is designed to drive at speeds of over 60 mph, simply cross trenches which are 4 toes broad, and surmount obstacles about two toes excessive.

Shifting quick within the Arctic

Constructing weapons and automobiles particularly for arctic terrain is a specialty for contractors in Finland, a country renowned for holding off the Soviet Union for over 100 days in deep snow and dense forest throughout World Conflict II.

Patria mentioned that whereas the 6×6 might be outfitted for numerous terrain sorts, together with the desert, the arctic area is its forte.

Snow is not the one problem in arctic warfare. Few roads can be found on Finland’s border with Russia — the precedence menace for NATO — and its huge hinterland is peppered with 1000’s of small lakes and marshland that may lavatory down armored transport.

“Within the wintertime, it is snow,” mentioned Petri Hepola, Patria’s govt vp for gross sales and advertising and marketing and its chief program officer for the F-35. “In the summertime, a lot of moist soil and swampy areas. One of the crucial vital options is how briskly you may transfer your troops and instruments by way of these areas.”

Finland and Norway are the one two members of Patria’s 6×6 program that share Arctic borders with Russia.

Nevertheless, as northern Europe, particularly the Baltic and Nordic states, grows more and more involved about battle with Moscow, the Kremlin has been bolstering its navy presence within the excessive north, repopulating key bases and reworking its Arctic fleet right into a separate strategic theater.

Since Finland joined NATO in 2023, alliance forces have been speeding to coach on the nation’s terrain and frigid temperatures, making it one of the crucial active spots for joint exercises in recent times.

“Our merchandise have been surviving very properly in that atmosphere,” Hepola mentioned.

Gearing up for 2027

With an order backlog of almost 2,000 6×6 automobiles, Patria hopes its new facility in Hämeenlinna might be prepared for manufacturing by 2027. The manufacturing unit campus serves solely the tail finish of all the manufacturing cycle, which might take weeks usually, or a number of months for extra sophisticated variants.

Inside, tons of of staff conduct welding, floor remedy, meeting, exams, and different closing processes that may every take weeks to finish. Dozens of automobiles line the manufacturing unit flooring, and dozens extra sit in parking heaps, every marked with a flag to designate the nation for which it has been modified.

Earlier than supply, each is meant to be pushed at the least 200 km, or 124 miles.

Rantanen, director of the 6×6 program, mentioned Patria has been integrating counter-drone techniques, reminiscent of jammers, on the automobile.

Armored automobiles in Ukraine have particularly struggled in opposition to pervasive minefields and small drones with explosive payloads, a few of that are managed by way of a fiber optic cable connection that may’t be jammed. In response, troopers there have relied extra on firearms reminiscent of shotguns and machine guns to counter such assaults.

Rantanen mentioned Patria hasn’t but formally added any kinetic weapons that may take down drones.

“The drone menace is at present evolving at such a velocity that it is arduous to maintain monitor of it carefully,” he mentioned. “However we’re arduous at work for the countermeasures in opposition to drones as properly.”