Finland’s Patria weighs making combat vehicles in Ukraine

MILAN — Finnish armored vehicles manufacturer Patria is the latest European company to consider a production site in Ukraine, following similar plans articulated by officials in Germany and Sweden .

As the war in Ukraine drags into its nineteenth month, allies have been discussing how to set up a support pipeline for Kyiv capable of outlasting Russia’s ongoing invasion. Whereas direct transfers from countries’ weapons stockpiles were instrumental in the beginning, some governments are now looking for more sustainable forms of aid.

For Finland, this has meant looking alternately at increasing the capability of ammunition production both at a national level and elsewhere, Kyiv purchasing directly from Finnish industry, and various international initiatives to help Ukraine, a defense ministry official told Defense News.

Local media recently began to report that Finnish armored vehicles manufacturer Patria Group was considering proposals to set up part of its production in Ukraine.

When pressed on the matter, the Finnish defense representative remained somewhat vague.

“In general, we know Ukraine to be interested in Finnish defense industry products and that discussions to promote bilateral materiel cooperation have taken place between administrations and companies,” the official said. “Commercial export licenses have been applied for, and the defense administration has accelerated the procedure to deal with them,” he added.

Patria also remains tight-lipped on the issue, stating in an email to Defense News that the company could not comment on ongoing discussions.

National broadcaster Yleisradio Oy (Yle) previously suggested that the Finnish company could strike a similar arrangement with Ukraine that it has in place with Poland for the domestic production of its vehicles.

Back in April, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on the social media platform previously known as Twitter that Ukraine had ordered 100 armored vehicles from Patria that were to be delivered by Poland.

Without commenting on the Kyiv connection, Sirje Ahvenlampi-Hyvönen, vice-president of communications at Patria, explained that technology transfer and local manufacturing concepts are inherent parts of the company’s business model.

“In Poland, Rosomaks 8x8 wheeled armored modular vehicles (AMVs) are produced under a license agreement on manufacturing. … We have already performed successful technology transfers such as industrial participation and local production for 8x8 AMVs in Slovenia, Croatia and South Africa,” Ahvenlampi-Hyvönen said.

The prospect of a local production venture in Ukraine is likely to receive political support in Helsinki, according to experts. Joel Linnainmäki, research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, noted that Ukraine’s defense enjoys a strong backing from Finland’s new conservative-right administration and the Finnish parliament.

“Cooperation between Patria and Ukraine would fit well into this picture. … Finland also tends to carefully follow and compare itself with the policies of our closest neighbors such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark who also seem to be exploring production possibilities in Kyiv as well,” Linnainmäki said.

But any changes in production processes or supply chains, especially in an active war zone, are extremely intricate and can entail greater risks.

“Conflict and war situations are obviously always very complex,” Ahvenlampi-Hyvönen said. “One of the lessons of the [Ukraine] war already is that this is a frontline warfare and has shown the need for compatible equipment and performance so that logistical support, maintenance can be provided more efficiently and reliably.”

Linnainmäki pointed to the need of building a “Ukrainian military of the future,” as referred to by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a speech he gave in Helsinki in June.

“Investing into new production facilities is part of this effort,” said Linnainmäki.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——芬兰装甲车制造商 Patria 是最新一家考虑在乌克兰设立生产基地的欧洲公司，此前德国和瑞典的官员也提出了类似的计划。

乌克兰战争已持续十九个月，盟国一直在讨论如何为基辅建立一条能够抵御俄罗斯持续入侵的援助渠道。虽然最初直接从各国武器库调拨武器发挥了重要作用，但一些国家政府现在正在寻求更可持续的援助方式。

芬兰国防部一位官员告诉《防务新闻》，对芬兰而言，这意味着要交替考虑提高国内及其他地区的弹药生产能力、基辅直接从芬兰工业购买弹药，以及各种帮助乌克兰的国际倡议。

当地媒体最近开始报道，芬兰装甲车辆制造商 Patria 集团正在考虑在乌克兰设立部分生产基地的提议。

当被追问此事时，芬兰国防部代表的回答含糊其辞。

这位官员表示：“我们了解到，乌克兰对芬兰国防工业产品总体上很感兴趣，两国政府部门和企业之间也已就促进双边物资合作进行了磋商。乌克兰方面已提交商业出口许可证申请，芬兰国防部正在加快审批流程。”

Patria 对此事也保持沉默，在给《防务新闻》的电子邮件中表示，该公司无法对正在进行的讨论发表评论。

芬兰国家广播公司 Yleisradio Oy (Yle) 此前曾表示，这家芬兰公司可能会与乌克兰达成类似与波兰达成的协议，在乌克兰进行汽车的国内生产。

早在四月份，波兰总理马特乌什·莫拉维茨基就在当时名为推特的社交媒体平台上宣布，乌克兰已向帕特里亚公司订购了 100 辆装甲车，这些装甲车将由波兰交付。

Patria 通讯副总裁 Sirje Ahvenlampi-Hyvönen 没有对与基辅的联系发表评论，而是解释说技术转让和本地化生产理念是公司商业模式的固有组成部分。

“在波兰，Rosomaks 8x8轮式装甲模块化车辆（AMV）是根据生产许可协议生产的。……我们已经在斯洛文尼亚、克罗地亚和南非成功完成了8x8 AMV的技术转让，例如工业参与和本地化生产，”Ahvenlampi-Hyvönen说道。

专家认为，在乌克兰开展本地化生产项目的前景很可能获得赫尔辛基的政治支持。芬兰国际事务研究所研究员乔尔·林奈迈基指出，乌克兰的国防得到了芬兰新任保守右翼政府和芬兰议会的强力支持。

“Patria与乌克兰的合作非常符合这一趋势。……芬兰也倾向于密切关注并比较我们最亲密的邻国（如瑞典、挪威和丹麦）的政策，这些国家似乎也在探索在基辅的生产可能性，”林奈麦基说道。

但是，生产流程或供应链的任何变化，尤其是在战区，都极其复杂，并可能带来更大的风险。

“冲突和战争局势显然总是非常复杂的，”阿赫文兰皮-希沃宁说。“（乌克兰）战争已经给我们带来的一个教训是，这是一场前线战争，它表明需要兼容的装备和性能，以便更高效、更可靠地提供后勤保障和维护。”

林奈因麦基指出，需要建立一支“面向未来的乌克兰军队”，正如美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯在6月于赫尔辛基发表的演讲中提到的那样。

“投资建设新的生产设施是这项工作的一部分，”林奈麦基说道。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。