Sweden, Germany, and the U.K. have jointly agreed to procure 436 BvS10 armored all-terrain vehicles, the manufacturer BAE Systems said in a press release. The vehicles will be used in support of the Arctic operations for the Collaborative All-Terrain Vehicle (CATV) program.
These vehicles provide maneuverability across ice, snow, rock, sand, and mud, along with steep mountains. The vehicles can also deliver personnel and supplies in coastal and flooded regions.
The vehicles have abundant space to enable troops to easily install interchangeable equipment and hardware as per tactical needs. These include the ability to convert these vehicles into an ambulance, armed personnel carrier (APC), and a repair and recovery vehicle.
If deployed for the attack, they can have missiles or mortars, or even a crew support weapon (CSW). The CSW is designed to deliver heavy fire support in any climate and is equipped with a remote weapon station (RWS) for fire support and a weapon station with head out for situational awareness, the company’s webpage states.
The joint purchase agreement of the three nations for 436 vehicles is worth US$760 million. 236 vehicles will be delivered to the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV), 140 to the German Federal Ministry of Defence (BAAINBw), and 60 to the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD), the press release added.
Sweden is serving as the spearhead of this three-nation purchase agreement.
Besides these vehicles, Sweden is also using 127 BvS10 vehicles that it ordered earlier to augment its existing fleet last year and separate from the US$50 million order for another 40 vehicles it plans to procure.
Earlier this year, Beowulf, the unarmored variant of the vehicle, won a competition for the Cold Weather All Terrain Vehicle (CATV) held by the U.S. Army.