Estonia to Buy 80 XA-188 APCs in its Largest Armoured Vehicle Procurement

08:53 GMT, September 1, 2010 defpro.com | Despite €20 million being a relatively small amount of money when compared to what has been spent on other major international defence contracts, this expenditure has particular significance for Estonia. It is the country’s largest-ever procurement programme for armoured vehicles that will double the number of armoured vehicles available to the Estonian Defence Forces. The agreement for the purchase of 80 XA-188 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from the Dutch Armed Forces was announced last week by the Estonian Ministry of Defence. However, it has not yet been signed, as preliminary negotiations for the unit price, delivery terms and payment schedule are still in process. As the spokesman of the Defence Ministry, Peeter Kuimet, told defpro.com, a contract is expected to be signed within the upcoming weeks.

According to national media, Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo said: “Compared with the current armoured carriers, these offer better protection, and the first carriers should reach Afghanistan this year for use by Estonian troops stationed there.” Estonia is contributing with currently 155 soldiers to the ISAF operation (the mandate allows for the deployment of up to 170 soldiers), mainly deployed to the southern province of Helmand. The county has lost eight soldiers in the course of the war – seven of which have died in combat – and reports 46 wounded soldiers.

Kuimet confirmed, upon enquiry by defpro.com, that an Estonian soldier died yesterday from his wounds after having stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) during a patrol in Helmand province. Although he was quickly medevaced, his wounds proved too severe and he died shortly after the incident.

In light of the increasing intensity of combat operations in Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry is seeking to improve the troops’ safety by sending more and better protected vehicles. In particular, road-side bombs and ambushes by insurgents, using small arms and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), have claimed nearly 2,000 coalition deaths in Afghanistan since the invasion in 2001.

Estonia previously purchased 60 XA-180EST armoured carriers, an older version of the vehicle, from Finland in 2004 for a total of €4 million. The country joined NATO in 2004 and has since been modernising its Defence Forces in order to meet Alliance standards.

Some of the vehicles purchased in 2004 have been deployed to Afghanistan. According to Kuimet, two of these older vehicles were severely damaged in combat operations and had to be decommissioned. Another seven or eight vehicles of the Estonian ISAF troops were replaced and repaired in Estonia after having been damaged.

Before the new vehicles are delivered by the Dutch Defence Materiel Organisation (Defensie Materieel Organisatie, DMO, to Estonia, the vehicles will be fully overhauled in the Netherlands. Whether this will be carried out by the Finnish manufacturer of the vehicles, Patria (the vehicles were originally built by SISU Auto), could not yet be confirmed by the Estonian Ministry of Defence. However, Kuimet stated that the vehicles would be delivered combat-ready. The country signed a maintenance agreement with Patria in 2004 in support of the then-acquired XA-180EST armoured vehicles.

As soon as the vehicles have been accepted by the Estonian MoD, some will be deployed to Afghanistan. Deliveries are expected to start this year and continue through 2015. The vehicles are intended to continue “mechanising the 1st Infantry Brigade and to offer their units in Afghanistan a better level of armoured protection,” Estonia Public Broadcasting reported last week.


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By Nicolas von Kospoth, Managing Editor