The Swedish Army has taken delivery of the first two refurbished Pansarterrängbil (Patria XA-203) six-wheeled armoured personnel carriers. Pansarterrängbil 202/203 is undergoing renovation at the Finnish system supplier Patria Land Oy. The renovation agreement with Patria is divided into two parts, a fixed part and a variable part. The fixed part includes measures that are carried out on all vehicles such as configuration analysis, dealing with obsolescence, maintenance and repair as well as minor modifications as a result of the Armed Forces’ experiences with the system. The project is planned to end at the beginning of 2026, when all 168 vehicles will have undergone renovation.
“The vehicles that FMV and the Armed Forces have now carried out delivery checks on are of a very high standard,” says Per Loman, the Swedish Armed Forces, who is responsible for receiving the vehicle deliveries.
“The moving part includes measures decided by the Armed Forces in connection with the status examination of the vehicles, which is done before they are transported to Finland, for example surface treatment and painting and more,” says Gustav Ericsson, Swedish Defense Materiel Agency (Försvarets materielverk, FMV) project manager.
The Patria Pasi (earlier known as the Sisu Pasi) is a Finnish-made six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier (APC) originally designed for Finnish Defence Forces. It was designed to operate with ease of use, simple structure and low-cost maintenance. The XA-180 and XA-185 are fully amphibious while other variants are not. The early variants (180 series) of the Pasi were manufactured by Sisu Auto until 1997, when its defense subsidiary Sisu Defence Oy was acquired by Patria. The later variants (such as the XA-202 and XA-203) were then manufactured by Patria until 2003, when the then new Patria AMV entered serial production. By then, over 1,300 Pasis had been produced.
The 200 series looks a little different from older variants due to increased armour. It lacks amphibious capabilities but can wade through water that is up to 1.5 m deep. The improved armour protects the passengers against up to 14.5 mm small arms fire. It is also equipped with modern optical aids like periscopes and night vision. The armor upgrade was initiated after the realisation that the previous armor was inadequate, even modern armor-piercing 7.62 mm ammunition could pierce the older XA-180 and XA-185 models in certain areas. The XA-203 variant is intended to be replaced by Patria AMVs in Finnish service.
