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TOPICS
Sweden orders 104 Pasi XA-203 armoured vehicles
18/07/00
Hans G Andersson JDW Correspondent
Sweden's Defence Materiel Administration has signed a C 70 million ($66.6 million) contract with Finland's Patria Vehicles Oy for the delivery of 104 Pasi XA-203 (6 x 6) wheeled armoured vehicles.
The contract includes an option for approximately 60 additional vehicles.
The Swedish order is the largest export contract received by Patria Vehicles for its XA series vehicles. More than 500 vehicles are in Finnish service. Ireland (2), Norway (50) and the Netherlands (90) have bought XA vehicles for deployment on peacekeeping missions.
The decision to order the new Pasi version is based on more than five years of operational experience by Swedish peacekeeping forces using the earlier Patria XA-180 vehicles, some of which were leased from the Finnish Defence Forces.
Deliveries of the new vehicles will take place in 2001-2002.
The contract calls for delivery of XA-203S armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and XA-202S variants which will be used as command post and communication vehicles.
The XA-203S will have a quick-change interior configuration with special kits for use in the casualty evacuation, maintenance, command and logistics roles. Most of the XA-203S APCs will be fitted with turrets armed with 20mm cannons.
The 22.5 tonne XA-203S carries eight soldiers and a crew of two or three depending on the turret fit. With 300 litres of fuel, the vehicle's radius of action is approximately 600km. It can reach a top speed of 96km/h.
The XA-200 is the latest version of the vehicle to enter production and has a number of improvements over the earlier vehicles including increased payload and more powerful Valmet engine coupled to an Allison fully automatic transmission.
For a higher level of battlefield survivability, the XA-200 series can be fitted with additional passive armour protection.
While the original versions of the vehicle were fully amphibious, being powered in the water by two propellers, the increased weight of the latest XA-200 means that they are not amphibious.
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