BOV 8x8 Patria

BOV 8x8 Patria
BOV 8x8 Patria on IDET 2019 exhibition.
Type	Infantry fighting vehicle
Place of origin	Finland  Slovakia
Service history
Used by	See Operators
Production history
Developed from	Patria AMV
Unit cost	4,7 million €
Specifications
Mass	28,000 kg (62,000 lb)
Length	8.2 m (27 ft)
Width	3.0 m (9.8 ft)
Height	3.7 m (12 ft)
Crew	3 (commander, driver, gunner) 7 passengers
Main armament	1 x 30x173mm GTS-30/N Autocannon
Secondary armament	1 x 7.62x51mm NATO FN MAG coaxial general purpose machinegun
Engine	DI 12 Scania diesel 360 kW (480 hp) or 450 kW (600 hp)
Power/weight	16.07 kW/t (21.85 PS/t) (max weight)
Suspension	8x8
Operational range	700 km (430 mi)
Maximum speed	over 100 km/h (60 mph) on land up to 8 km/h (5.0 mph) in water

The BOV 8x8 Patria (Slovak: Bojové Obrnené Vozidlo 8x8 Patria, lit. 'Patria 8x8 Armoured fighting vehicle') is an 8×8 multi-role military vehicle produced by Patria Land oy., a Konštrukta – Defence company, in Dubnica nad Váhom with cooperation with DMD group and ZTS špeciál. The vehicle is a licensed variant of the Finnish Patria AMV^xp.

History

In August 2022, the Slovak Minister of Defence Jaroslav Naď signed a contract to buy 76 Patria AMV vehicles, that will be partly manufactured in Slovakia. Main competitors of tha Patria AMV were the Pandur II and Mowag Piranha V. In the original order, Slovakia bought 60 Infantry fighting vehicles, 10 ambulante versions and 6 Command post versions.^[1] Vehicles will be delivered between 2023 and 2027.

BOV Patria will replace out dated Soviet era BMP-1's and OT-90s that serve in 2nd Mechanized Brigade.^[2]

History of vehicle development

Slovak Ministry of Defence already wanted to buy 8x8 vehicles in 2015. The first 8x8 vehicle was ment to be based on KTO Rosomak not on original Patria AMV platform. The vehicle was designed by Polish Armaments Group and Slovak company ZTS špeciál. The name of the vehicle was Scipio. Slovakia wanted to buy around thirty of these vehicles. But for financial reasons the project was cancelled.^[3][4]

Again in 2017 government started a procuremnt of 8x8 platform, which is today one the most non-transparent procurements in Slovak history.^[5] The vehicle had name BOV 8x8 Vydra.^[6][7] But after the elections new Minister of Defence Jaroslav Naď in 2019 completely rejected the procurement of BOV Vydra. Then in 2022 Ministry of Defence under Jaroslav Naď started a tender in which Patria AMV^XP won. The BOV Patria has much similarities with its predecessor. But the main differences are bigger armor protection. NATO compatibile caliber cannon and that the old Vydra was based on Patria AMV while BOV Patria is based on newer Patria AMV^XP.^[8][9]

Vehicle specifications and armament

BOV Patria is armed with Slovak derivate of Shipunov 2A42 named GTS-30/N which can fire standard NATO 30x173mm caliber coupled with 7.62×51mm NATO FN MAG machine gun and Spike LR missiles .^[10][11]

TURRA 30 gun turret mounted on BMP-1.

The cannon and machine gun is installed in Slovak gun turret TURRA 30. TURRA 30 uses advanced Fire-control systems with Thermal sights and 81mm GALIX or TUČA smoke grenade launcher.^[12]

Armour protection

The basic structure of the vehicle provides protection for every person inside the vehicle according to STANAG 4569, level 4a/b. (explosion of a 10 kg TNT anti-personnel mine under any wheel or under the floor of the vehicle).^[13] The hull of the vehicle is protected by STANAG 4569, level 3a/b and turret is protected by STANAG 4569, level 1.^[14][15]

Vehicle specifications

Vehicle is about 8.2 meters long, around 3 meters wide and 3.7 meters high. Maximum combat weight of the vehicle is about 28 tons and maximum weight for swimming is 25 tons.^[13]

Variants

• BOV Patria - Standard Infantry fighting vehicle variant that uses 30 mm caliber cannon can carry up to 7 people without a crew.
• Patria AMBS -BOV Patria ambulance version with medical equipment. The vehicle comes without the turret and machine gun.^[2]
• Patria V - Command and control post version of BOV Patria vehicle, with more advanced communicational equipment and less space for carrying troops.^[9]

Future of the vehicle

In the long-term development plans, the Slovak Armed Forces plan to procure up to 500 8x8 vehicles. The procurement is divided into 5 phases. The phases will be implemented gradually between 2022 and 2035. First phase was already implemented. After completion of every phase Slovak Armed Forces should have in its service around 20 variants of BOV Patria 8x8.^[16][17][18]

Table of all phases with vehicle variants

Phase	Vehicle name	Vehicle type	Number of vehicles	In sun
First phase	BOV 8x8	Infantry fighting vehicle	60	76[16]
	BOV 8x8 V	Command and control	6
	BOV 8x8 AMBS	Armoured ambulance	10
Second phase	BOV 8x8 ER	Electromagnetic disturbance	9	92[16]
	BOV 8x8 EPZ	Electronic reconnaissance	24
	BOV 8x8 EB	Electromagnetic warfare	3
	BOV 8x8 PVO	Anti-aircraft warfare	56
Third phase	BOV 8x8	Infantry fighting vehicle	17	97[16]
	BOV 8x8 P	Reconnaissance	6
	BOV 8x8 V	Command and control	9
	BOV 8x8 ShM 120	Self-propelled mortar	36
	BOV 8x8 AMBS	Armoured ambulance	29
Fourth phase	BOV 8x8 ŠMV	Armoured personnel carrier	81	93[16]
	BOV 8x8 AMP	Anti-materiel rifleman squad	3
	BOV 8x8 GM	Grenadier squad	9
Fifth phase	BOV 8x8 VOV	Armoured recovery vehicle	13	142[16]
	BOV 8x8 DTP	Technical help plant	11
	BOV 8x8 RCHBO	CBRN defense	4
	BOV 8x8 RCHBO VPP	CBRN defense search and help	2
	BOV 8x8 Ž	Military engineering vehicle	45
	BOV 8x8 ŽMV	Minelayer	29
	BOV 8x8 ŽVO	Demining mechanical clearance	29
	BOV 8x8 ŽČC	Engineering road cleaner	9

Operators

Current operators

•  Slovakia: 75 vehicles on order one vehicle already delivered.^[2]

See also

Comparable vehicles

• Stryker
• LAV III/LAV AFV/LAV-25/ASLAV
• K808 Armored Personnel Carrier
• Boxer
• Freccia IFV
• BTR-90
• CM-32
• Type 96 armored personnel carrier
• Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle
• Patria AMV
• BTR-4
• Saur 2
• VBCI
• FNSS Pars
• MOWAG Piranha
• TATA Kestrel

References

1. "Naď podpísal nákup fínskych transportérov. Slovensko zaplatí Patrii pol miliardy eur". Pravda.sk (in Slovak). 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
2. "bojovych obrnenych vozidiel". bojovych-obrnenych-vozidiel.
3. Aktuality.sk (2015-07-04). "FOTO: Do slovenskej armády pustia Rosomaky - Scipio 8x8". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2024-05-07.
4. Teraz.sk (2015-07-03). "R.Fico v Poľsku dohodol druhú najväčšiu modernizáciu slovenskej armády". TERAZ.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2024-05-07.
5. a.s, Petit Press. "Výber vozidiel pre armádu nie je transparentný, tvrdia obyčajní". domov.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
6. Teraz.sk (2017-11-10). "GALKO: Nákup vozidiel pre ministerstvo obrany je pokútny obchod". TERAZ.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
7. "BOV 8×8 VYDRA – KONŠTRUKTA – Defence" (in Slovak). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
8. "Slovensko je o krok bližšie k novým bojovým obrneným vozidlám, ponuku poslalo päť krajín". www.trend.sk (in Slovak). 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
9. Aktuality.sk (2021-07-12). "Obrnená Vydra už nemusí byť favorit. Obrana plánuje nakúpiť vyše 700 transportérov". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
10. Šnídl, Vladimír (2022-08-25). "Nové transportéry chce Naď vyzbrojiť nevyskúšaným kanónom z Považia". Denník E (in Slovak). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
11. "GTS-30/N: new Slovak 30mm automatic cannon enters serial production". 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
12. "Diaľkovo ovládaná veža TURRA30". EVPÚ a.s. - Elektrotechnický výskumný a projektový ústav (in Slovak). Retrieved 2024-04-12.
13. "legislativne procesy". www.slov-lex.sk.
14. "Rosomak and EVPU unveil the Scipio project, a Turra 30 turret fitted on Rosomak armoured vehicle 1905152 | IDET 2015 News Official Online Show Daily Coverage | Defence security military exhibition 2015". Army Recognition. 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
15. https://www.slov-lex.sk/legislativne-procesy?p_p_id=processDetail_WAR_portletsel&p_p_lifecycle=2&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_cacheability=cacheLevelPage&p_p_col_id=column-2&p_p_col_count=1&_processDetail_WAR_portletsel_fileCooaddr=COO.2145.1000.3.3007221&_processDetail_WAR_portletsel_file=Vlastny-materia%CC%81l.docx&_processDetail_WAR_portletsel_action=getFile
16. https://www.mosr.sk/data/files/4410_zamer-projektu-pre-obstaranie-bov-8x8.pdf
17. https://www.mosr.sk/data/files/4664_tudia_uskutocnitelnosti_obstarania_bov_8x8.pdf
18. https://tvnoviny.sk/domace/clanok/137754-vlada-schvalila-vyse-dvojmiliardovy-nakup-rezort-obrany-tak-ziska-obrnene-vozidla-aj-pasovu-techniku

External links