Combat Vehicles Could Arrive Next Year, Confirms Ministry
A deal to purchase 44 barely-used CV9035 combat vehicles from the Netherlands could be signed this year, with the first vehicles arriving in 2015.
The Ministry of Defense’s Undersecretary for Defense Investments Ingvar Pärnamäe told Eesti Päevaleht today that negotiation with the Netherlands are currently taking place.
No price has been mentioned by the ministry, but the daily believes it will be the most expensive weapons procurement in Estonia's history.
The price could be over 100 million euros, as the Dutch bought the vehicles in 2004 (with a 2007 to 2011 delivery window) for around four million euros per vehicle.
The procurement is one of three the Defense Forces is planning, with mobile artillery and third generation anti-tank weapons also on the agenda.
The CV9035 is used be all Scandinavian states, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The highly mobile vehicle is equipped with diesel engines, and a 30 to 40 mm cannon. It can carry 6-8 soldiers and provides all-round protection against 14.5 mm armor-piercing rounds. The armor protection over the front arc of the vehicle is classified.
The CV9035s weights two to three times as much as the 13.5 ton Patria Pasi, which was built by Finland and is currently in Estonian service.