The Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) has signed a contract for the purchase of eight new engineer armored vehicles and three new recovery armored vehicles for the Norwegian Defence Ministry. The vehicles are scheduled to be delivered between 2026 and 2027. Three out of the eight new engineer armored vehicles and one out of the three new recovery armored vehicles are acquisitions resulting from donations to Ukraine. Previously, the Norwegian Defence Ministry had received six engineer armored vehicles and six recovery armored vehicles through two contracts with the German company FFG Flensburger Fahrzeugbau.
The contract for the engineer armored vehicles is valued at 80 million euros, while the contract for the recovery armored vehicles is valued at 29 million euros. In total, 14 engineer armored vehicles and nine recovery armored vehicles will be procured. The WiSENT 2 is the world’s most advanced multifunctional vehicle platform. It is based on the Leopard 2 main battle tank chassis. The WiSENT 2 thus benefits from an all-round mature design that has proven itself in combat by absolute safety and reliability. With the WiSENT 2, FFG offers a support vehicle that has been specially developed for current requirements and operational scenarios.
“I am pleased that we have now signed these contracts, which will contribute to meeting the Army’s needs for engineer and recovery armored vehicles and replace equipment that has been donated to Ukraine,” says Øyvind Kvalvik, Director of Investments at Defense Materiel.
“This is an important reinforcement of the land forces. Thanks to the team from Defense Materiel, the Defense, and the supplier who have worked on this contract, we are now looking forward to the deliveries,” says Tomas Beck, Chief of Land Capabilities at Defense Materiel.
The WiSENT 2 is a modular platform that can be used in recovery, engineering, mine-clearing or bridge-laying roles. Due to its modular design the WiSENT 2 can be converted from recovery to engineering roles in less than 5 hours. Several nations already have this concept in use. The engineer armored vehicle, Wisent 2 AEV (Armoured Engineer Vehicle), will provide support to the Army’s combat units. The vehicle is capable of pushing and excavating large amounts of material, allowing combat units to bypass or overcome obstacles. It can also assist in minefield clearance and deploy obstacles to reduce the enemy’s ability to advance.
