The Netherlands Marine Corps (Korps Mariniers) will have 124 new tracked vehicles available from 2024. They will replace some of the obsolete Bandvagn 206 and Viking vehicles, State Secretary Barbara Visser reported this to the Lower House. The future vehicles are to be lightly armored and must be deployable in extreme conditions, such as in the snow and difficult terrain. They must have at least as much terrain mobility as the current vehicles. The new tracked vehicles to be replaced are now in use by The Netherlands Marine Corps.
The Netherlands is cooperating with Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden on their acquisition, as agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding on Multinational Cooperation on All Terrain Vehicles concluded last year. These countries also want to replace the BV-206 in roughly the same period as the Netherlands. Sweden is coordinating this project. The intention is that the first vehicles will arrive in 2024 and the last in 2027. This larger number is based on the deployability objectives according to the Netherlands Ministry of Defence Note and the desired capabilities of NATO.
Credit: Een Noorse Band Vagon (BiVi) transport voertuig.
Bandvagn 206 (Bv 206) is a tracked articulated, all-terrain carrier developed by Hägglunds (now part of BAE Systems) for the Swedish Army. It consists of two units, with all four tracks powered. It can carry up to 17 people, and the trailer unit can be adapted for different uses. The BvS 10 is an All Terrain Armoured Vehicle produced by BAE Systems Land Systems Hägglunds of Sweden. This vehicle, referred to as the Viking by the UK forces, was originally developed as a collaboration between industry – Hägglunds Vehicle AB – and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) on behalf of the Royal Marines.
The Bandvagn 206 entered service with the Netherlands Ministry of Defence in the 1980s. Initially it concerned 156 vehicles, of which 127 have been modernized over the years so that they can be used at least until this year. The Viking Bandvagn S10 was previously purchased as a replacement for the unarmored BV-206 D6. The BvS 10 is in use with the Netherlands Marine Corps, 74 units have been delivered of which 46 are the APC version, 20 command vehicles, 4 repair and recovery vehicles and another 4 ambulance vehicles.
