Multinational project office for armoured vehicle programme established in Finland
The Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) programme takes a new step forward as its multinational programme management office has been established within the Defence Forces Logistics Command Headquarters. The official opening ceremony was held in Tampere on 30 September 2025.
Personnel from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Latvia are assigned to the programme office. While they remain administratively part of their respective national organisations, they operate under the authority of the CAVS Programme Director. The office’s mission is to manage the programme as a whole and to ensure the achievement of shared objectives.
The programme management office is funded through the European Union’s EDIRPA instrument (European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act), under which the CAVS programme has been awarded EUR 60 million. The funding will also support the implementation of joint contracts as well as the development of new vehicle variants.
– The establishment of the programme management office strengthens the collective management of the CAVS programme and marks an important step, as this is the first multinational defence materiel project in which Finland acts as the lead nation, says Brigadier General Engineering Juha-Matti Ylitalo, Chair of the CAVS Programme Steering Committee and Deputy Chief of the Defence Forces Logistics Command.
The CAVS programme is a joint 6x6 armoured vehicle development and procurement effort by Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Germany, Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom, also covering the sustainment phase of the vehicles. The programme is open to new members and is expected to expand further in the future. The programme management is headed by Project Director Liisa Nevalainen from the Joint Systems Centre.
CAVS programme in brief
The CAVS vehicles are supplied by Patria. They are based on a common platform from which several variants have been developed: armoured personnel carrier, command vehicle, heavily armoured personnel carrier for crisis management missions, and a fire support vehicle equipped with the NEMO mortar system. Further variants may be developed to meet the requirements of participating nations. The programme is open to European countries with similar capability needs.
Nearly 1,000 CAVS vehicles have been ordered, of which around 200 have already been delivered. Finland has ordered a total of 161 XA-300 armoured personnel carriers, with deliveries scheduled between 2023 and 2026. The procurements are managed by the Joint Systems Centre of the Defence Forces Logistics Command as part of the Army’s Armoured Vehicle 2020 programme.
– The programme office enables the effective administration and leadership of the rapidly expanding CAVS programme. The model is new and innovative, and it sets an example of how European joint defence materiel procurements can be carried out with the support of EU EDIRPA funding. It also allows us to combine the expertise of all CAVS nations for the benefit of the programme as a whole, summarises Nevalainen, who will take over as Head of the programme management office on 1 November.
XA-300 Armoured Personnel Carrier in FDFs Materiel and Equipment Gallery (link)
