2021
Nine EU Countries Start Future Highly Mobile Armoured Systems Project
In November 2020, Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia and Spain signed a letter of intent on a joint armoured vehicle development project. This supports the European Industrial Consortium’s project FAMOUS (European Future Highly Mobile Augmented Armoured Systems), which develops innovative vehicle solutions for the future. Patria is the leader of the European Industry Consortium, with 19 companies from the countries mentioned above.
The Industry Consortium has participated in the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP). With the aim to improve the competitiveness of the EU defence industry, the EDIDP is the European Commission's two-year programme. The programme supports the development of defence materiel and technologies with EU budget resources. The programme’s budget for 2019–2020 amounts to EUR 500 million.
The European Commission has granted EUR 9 million of EU funding to the Consortium under the programme and the nine countries participating in the project will finance the project by approximately one million euros. The objective of the project is to develop new technological solutions that will improve the performance of new and existing armoured vehicles. The technological areas to be developed are connected, for example, to mobility, energy production, protection, developing situational awareness, autonomy, developing weapon systems, and improving maintenance.
In Finland, this project is closely linked to the project to develop the Army’s arctic mobility, which seeks to find a replacement to the existing fleet of tracked trucks that is becoming obsolete.
- The importance of security in the Arctic regions has increased over the past few years. This is why it is all the more important to ensure that the Army has, and will continue to have, the ability to prevent, safeguard and defend the northern regions, Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen explains.
- In the first phase of the project now under way, the industrial consortium produces a cost-effective implementation concept for a new innovative vehicle solution that meets the Army's performance requirements. I am delighted to say that the European Commission has granted funding from the EU budget for this important joint project, Minister Kaikkonen emphasises.
Finland's defence administration is involved in six other projects, too, for which the Commission has granted funding. These include projects related to the development of the space situational awareness, SAURON and Odin's Eye. Funding is also available for the ESSOR software-defined radio project. In addition, Finnish companies are involved in five other projects. In total, the projects involve 12 different Finnish operators in 12 industrial consortia.
- I am glad to note that domestic actors have been so active in applying for the 2020 EDIDP. Finnish expertise is on demand in Europe, and I very much hope that companies continue to be active in applying for projects funded by the European Defence Fund this year,” Minister Kaikkonen encourages.
Inquiries: the FAMOUS project and Finland's participation in other EDIDP projects, Senior Specialist Anna Oksanen, the Ministry of Defence, tel. + 358 295140 060, on the FAMOUS project Inspector of Infantry Colonel Rainer Peltoniemi, Army Command Finland, tel. +358 299 800 (switchboard).