War in the Arctic? NATO relies on this 6×6 transporter

The factory in Hämeenlinna produces the Patria 8×8 armored personnel carrier and a relatively new, promising vehicle: a 6×6 wheeled infantry carrier, for which demand is growing rapidly in Northern and Western Europe.

Work on the vehicle, approximately 7.6 m long and weighing 17 tons, began in 2020 as part of a joint program of Finland and Latvia called Common Armored Vehicles System (CAVS). Both countries were looking for a cost-effective, mass-produced armored vehicle that could be used by their militaries to ensure interoperability.

Latvia has since sent at least 42 such vehicles to Ukraine. They are armed with heavy machine guns and have been delivered in batches over the past year. The vehicle can cross tundra and even rivers while protecting up to 10 soldiers from land mines and artillery fire while moving them to forward positions.

During Business Insider's visit to the Patría plant, representatives of the company – majority owned by the Finnish state – said they were not authorized to reveal details about the performance of the 6×6 version used in Ukraine.

However, the CAVS 6×6 program quickly attracted the attention of the rest of Europe. What began as a partnership of two countries has grown into a consortium of seven member countries.

Sweden joined the Common Armored Vehicles System program in 2022, followed by Germany, Denmark, Great Britain and Norway in the following years.

Finland and Latvia have placed orders for a total of just under 500 of these vehicles, while Sweden has ordered 415 6×6 vehicles for delivery within the next five years. Stockholm's latest order for 94 vehicles, announced in early December, valued each copy at approximately USD 1.75 million.

Germany became the largest buyer in the program, signing contracts in mid-December for the purchase of 876 6×6 vehicles with a total value of USD 2.3 billion. These vehicles will be delivered in four variants, including a version equipped with a mortar turret.

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Meanwhile, Denmark, which joined the program last year, has already placed an order for 129 6×6 vehicles.

Great Britain and Norway are still negotiating orders for 6×6 wagons with Patria.

Interior of a CAVS 6×6

The CAVS 6×6 can accommodate approximately 10 soldiers and a standard crew of two or three people. The vehicle offers armor up to level 4 according to NATO standards, designed to withstand direct hits from heavy machine guns, mine explosions and close artillery explosions.

The CAVS 6×6 competes with other wheeled infantry carriers such as Rheinmetall's Boxer and General Dynamics Land Systems' Stryker, which is widely used by the US military.

The Finnish company said it can tailor the vehicle to each customer's needs, however the typical variant is equipped with air conditioning enabling operation at temperatures down to -40°C.

“It'll be comfortable enough inside that you'll be able to survive without any problems. We're talking about temperatures above freezing,” said Mikko Rantanen, Patría's director of 6×6 vehicle programs, speaking to Business Insider inside the rear compartment of one of the vehicles.

The rear interior of the 6×6 is austere: fabric-covered metal-framed seats and headrests for five on each side, with space behind each seat for equipment and sidearms.

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There is barely enough room for a soldier to sit with his knees touching the knees of the passenger opposite him. Several fire extinguishers inside are connected to an automatic fire extinguishing system that can detect a fire in the rear cabin.

The screens enable soldiers to observe the vehicle's surroundings thanks to external cameras, and the rear ramp allows for mounting a machine gun or a manned weapons module on the roof.

There is also a narrow passage on the right side of the vehicle that allows soldiers to move between the rear compartment and the driver's cab, which resembles a truck cab and is equipped with an automatic transmission.

Optional propellers located underneath the 6×6 allow for a smooth transition from driving on land to traversing small bodies of watersuch as rivers or lakes.

“In this configuration we can enter the water without any preparations,” Rantanen said.

However, the speed of the 6×6 in water is about 8 km per hour, and Rantanen added that the vehicle is not intended for landing or amphibious operations.

On land, it is designed to travel at a speed of approximately 100 km per hour, easily overcoming ditches over 1 m wide and obstacles over 0.5 m high.

Moving quickly in the Arctic

Building weapons and vehicles specially adapted to Arctic conditions is a specialty of Finnish contractors, a country famous for fending off the Soviet Union for more than 100 days in deep snow and dense forests during World War II.

Patria announced that although 6×6 can be configured for various types of terrain, including desert, the Arctic domain is its strongest point.

Snow is not the only challenge of the Arctic war. There are few roads available on Finland's border with Russia – a priority threat to NATO – and the country's vast hinterland is dotted with thousands of small lakes and marshy areas that could immobilize armored personnel carriers.

“Snow is a problem in the winter,” said Petri Hepola, Patría's executive vice president of sales and marketing and F-35 program director. — In the summer we have a lot of wet soil and wetlands. One of the most important features is how quickly troops and equipment can be moved through such areas, he added.

Finland and Norway are the only two participants in the 6×6 Patríi program that share an Arctic border with Russia.

But as Northern Europe — especially the Baltic and Nordic states — increasingly fears conflict with Moscow, the Kremlin is strengthening its military presence in the High North, re-manning key bases and transforming its Arctic fleet into a separate strategic theater of operations.

Since Finland joined NATO in 2023, the alliance's forces have been training intensively on its territory and in extremely low temperatures, making the country one of the most active locations for joint exercises in recent years.

“Our products perform very well in this environment,” Hepola said.

Preparations for 2027

With an order portfolio of nearly 2,000 6×6 vehicles, Patria expects that the new plant in Hämeenlinna will be ready for production in 2027. The factory campus only serves the final stage of the entire production cycle, which in most cases lasts several weeks, and in the case of more complex variants – several months.

Inside, hundreds of workers perform welding, surface finishing, assembly, testing and other final processes, each of which can take weeks. Dozens of vehicles are parked in production halls and dozens more in parking lots – each marked with the flag of the country for which it was modified.

Each vehicle must travel at least 200 km before delivery.

Drones remain a problem

Rantanen, director of the 6×6 program, said Patria integrates anti-drone systems such as jammers into the vehicle.

Armored vehicles in Ukraine are particularly hard hit by the ubiquitous minefields and small drones with explosives, some of which are controlled via fiber optic cables, which cannot be disrupted. In response, soldiers are increasingly relying on firearms such as shotguns and machine guns to combat these types of threats.

Rantanen said that Patria has not yet officially added any kinetic weapons capable of shooting down drones.

“The drone threat is currently evolving at such a rapid pace that it is difficult to keep up with it,” he said. — But we are also working intensively on counter-drone measures, he added.

The above text is a translation from American edition of Business Insider