Last year Norway joined the multinational CAVS program for a 6×6 armored transport vehicle, together with the United Kingdom. Now the country has signed the corresponding framework agreement for the serial procurement of the vehicle. Plans regarding the quantity are not yet known. In total, the five previous program members ordered 1,331 units, of which Sweden 435, Germany 349 (plus an option for 527 more), Latvia 256, Finland 161 and Denmark 130. To date, 48 have been allocated for Ukraine.
Germany could, according to various reports, even procure up to 4,000 vehicles to replace the Fuchs armored personnel carrier. The current order includes ten crew-transport vehicles, 48 reconnaissance group transports (plus 14 options), 170 engineer company transports (plus 54 options), 69 mortar carriers with the NEMO turret (plus 61 options) and 52 fire-control vehicles (plus 398 options). In the future, the vehicle is also to be used in the Bundeswehr’s homeland defense.
Over 300 CAVS already delivered
Several German variants are to receive the Protector RS4 weapon station from Kongsberg. Domestic production and maintenance are planned at the KNDS Germany Maintenance site in Freisen. CAVS has been developed since 2019 under the company designation Patria XA-300 jointly by Finland and Latvia, since 2021 also by Sweden and since 2023 by Germany. The original project member Estonia withdrew again in the meantime. According to Patria, more than 300 vehicles have already been delivered.
CAVS is based on the successful AMV from the Finnish manufacturer and is a three-axle amphibious armored vehicle with a curb weight of 15.5 tons and a maximum permissible gross weight of 24 tons. The baseline protection complies with STANAG 4569 Level 2 and can be upgraded to Level 4 (against 14.5 mm armor-piercing ammunition). The vehicle accommodates a crew of two to three and eight to ten passengers. It is powered by a Scania AB diesel engine delivering 294 kW (394 hp). Speed exceeds 100 km/h on road and eight km/h in water, with a range of more than 700 kilometers.
