In July, the European Commission set up a “financial instrument” endowed with 500 million euros over two years to encourage the 27 member states to pool the purchase of their military equipment in order to avoid competition between them “to achieve the same products”. of cost savings and increasing the interoperability of their respective armed forces.
Two member countries of the European Union [UE]namely Germany and Sweden, along with the UK, have acquired 436 highly mobile vehicles [VHM] Bandvagn Skyddad-esque [BvS] 10 with BAE Systems Hägglunds as part of the “CATV [Collaborative All-Terrain Vehicle].
This order, announced on December 16, is worth $760 million [soit un peu plus de 712 millions d’euros, au taux de change actuel].
“Sweden, Germany and the UK will see excellent returns on their investment in these high performance vehicles for decades to come. This again demonstrates the strong relationship between BAE Systems and its customers to provide these critical capabilities,” commented Tommy Gustafsson-Rask, Managing Director of BAE Systems Hägglunds, which manufactures the BsV10 in Örnsköldsvik. [Suède].
Specifically, the largest order was placed by the Swedish Defense Material Administration [FMV], with 236 copies. The German defense minister procures 140, the British army 40.
Based on the latest version of the BvS10, the vehicles will be delivered in multiple versions from 2024, including “Troop Transport”, “Logistics”, “Medical Evacuation” and “Command”.
Note that Sweden had already ordered 127 BvS10s in 2021, in addition to the 153 already in service with its land forces. These line up more than a thousand highly mobile vehicles, including Bandvagn 206, whose design dates back to the 1970s.
BAE Systems Hägglunds also expects further orders in the future. “The CATV program includes a framework agreement that could lead to the purchase of additional vehicles by the three nations,” emphasized the industrialist.
Equipped with a Steyr M1 engine, the BvS10 can run on any terrain. With a mass of 14 tons [en ordre de bataille] and can carry a load of 3 tons, has a fording ability of 1.5 meters, 30% steepness on snow, 40% slope on hard ground and 25% cant. It is armored and armed with a 12.7mm machine gun [potentiellement téléopérée]a grenade launcher and jammer against improvised explosive devices.
Note that the US Army has ordered 110 examples of the Beowulf, which is the unarmored version of the BvS10.