On Monday, February 3, 2025, the Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia announced on social media the visit of Ambassador Anatoliy Kutsevol to the Defence Partnership Latvia plant in Valmiera, Livonia, during which the production of licensed Patria 6×6 wheeled armored personnel carriers for Ukraine was confirmed.
Photo: Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Latvia / Посольство України в Латвії via Facebook
“During the visit, the Ambassador met with the Mayor of the city, Jānis Baiks, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Group for Cooperation with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Jānis Skrastiņš, Executive Director of Defence Partnership Latvia LLC, Uģis Romanovs, and also visited the local theater and the rehabilitation center at Vidzeme Hospital.
The Ambassador expressed his gratitude to the Valmiera municipality and the Mayor for their support of Ukrainians living in the region. The meeting also addressed the exchange of experiences between Latvian and Ukrainian local governments and entrepreneurs.
During the meeting between the Ambassador of Ukraine and the Chairman of the Group for promoting cooperation with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Jānis Skrastiņš, special attention was given to the development of interparliamentary cooperation between Ukraine and Latvia, particularly the organization of an upcoming visit of Latvian parliamentarians to Ukraine.
In a meeting with the Executive Director of Defence Partnership Latvia LLC, Uģis Romanovs, the Ambassador reviewed the production of the first batch of Patria 6×6 wheeled armored personnel carriers, which are set to be delivered to Ukraine to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities.
Additionally, during the visit to the rehabilitation center at Vidzeme Hospital, the issue of admitting Ukrainian soldiers wounded in battles against the Russian aggressor for rehabilitation was discussed,” the Facebook post states.
The first reports about Latvia’s plans to finance the delivery of an undisclosed number of Patria 6×6 vehicles emerged during Prime Minister Evika Siliņa’s visit to Kyiv on September 11-13, 2024.
The day before, the Embassy announced the delivery of a batch of 100 FPV drones to Ukraine, purchased for 130,000 EUR as part of a fundraiser organized by the Ziedot.lv foundation with the participation of the government.
Photo: Patria Oyj
Patria 6×6
The Patria 6×6 (manufacturer designation: Patria XA-300) is a vehicle designed as the successor to the XA-180/185/200 Pasi 6×6 family and was first presented at the Eurosatory 2018 exhibition in Paris (it was also showcased at the MSPO fair in Kielce in 2019 in cooperation with the Rosomak company). The vehicle was developed based on a modified chassis of the AMV 8×8 infantry fighting vehicles, featuring a double-wishbone, fully independent suspension and a new power transmission system. It is equipped with a 400-horsepower diesel engine delivering a maximum torque of 1870 Nm and an automatic 7-speed transmission.
The crew consists of three soldiers, while the troop capacity has been increased to ten. The driver controls two axles (optionally three) and has access to features such as the SENOP night vision system and a rear-view camera. The operational range exceeds 700 km, and the maximum speed is over 100 km/h. The vehicle can overcome longitudinal slopes of 60% and lateral slopes of 30%, terrain obstacles up to 0.6 m in height, ditches up to 1.0 m wide, and water obstacles up to 1.5 m deep, with an optional capability to traverse larger bodies of water.
So far, Finland (with 161 vehicles ordered, designated as XA-300), Sweden (with 341 vehicles ordered, of which 20 have been delivered as Pansarterrängbil 300), Latvia (with over 256 vehicles ordered, some of which are already in service), and Germany (which has not yet placed an order but has commissioned the development of a 120-mm self-propelled mortar variant, NEMO) have decided to jointly procure these vehicles under the international program codenamed CAVS (Common Armored Vehicle System).
Recently, it has also been offered to the United Kingdom in collaboration with Babcock International Group. According to Patria’s statement from January 2023, Norway, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Japan have also expressed interest in their modular 6×6 armored vehicle.
Defence Partnership Latvia is a joint venture with a majority stake held by the Finnish company Patria Oyj and the local Latvian partner Unitruck. It manages Patria’s Latvian production operations and the manufacturing facility in Valmiera, Livonia, which was inaugurated on May 28, 2024. The subcontractor for hull production is the Latvian company EMJ Metāls, which received Patria’s certification on December 29, 2023.