Additional ASCOD IFV for Latvia

Latvia’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a request from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to double the country’s planned procurement of the ASCOD IFV (infantry fighting vehicles) from General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS). 

The additional vehicles will, “contribute to the achievement of NATO capability development goals and accelerate the development of the Land Forces Mechanized Infantry Brigade by rearming another battalion in the shortest possible time,” an MoD press release on the 17th June explains. 

The procurement is expected to cost €387 million (£330 million/$445 million) with deliveries to start from 2027. This approval will bring the total number of ASCOD IFV in Latvian service to 84 once all deliveries are complete. 

Earlier announcements from the Latvian MoD indicated that the successful vehicle would need to be in service by 2028 and that it would be used to equip the country’s Mechanised Infantry Brigade, replacing the 197 CVR(T)s that were supplied by the UK. The brigade consists of three mechanised infantry battalions, an artillery formation, two combat support battalions and an HQ. The artillery formation is equipped with the M109 155 mm self-propelled howitzer and is also responsible for maintaining forward observer and JTAC capabilities. 

The first contract was eventually placed in January 2025 for 42 vehicles valued at approximately €373 million (£318 million). At the time that the contract was announced, the delivery schedule was stated to start in 2026 for the first vehicle with the remainder delivered in 2027 with various tendered options that were yet to be decided. The vehicle hulls are to be produced at the GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas facilities in Spain. 

The vehicles are expected to carry the UT30 Mk 2 30 mm turret from Elbit Systems, a contract for which was placed in April 2025 for an anonymous customer that is believed to be Latvia.  In addition, the vehicles will be assembled at Latvia’s Patria facility, the Defence Partnership Latvia (DPL) armoured vehicle production facility in Valmiera. The DPL facility will maintain the vehicles as well as assembling them, Patria announced on the 30th May, with first deliveries expected in 2026 and DPL also contributing to the local production element of the contract. 

Calibre comment

It takes a land force to defeat a land force, as Amos Fox recently told me. So, it is encouraging to note that the sum of Latvia’s procurements – which now includes 84 ASCOD IFV, 300 of the CAVS from Patria, as well as IRIS-T air defence systems from Diehl – will deliver a capable fighting force, which will help deter Russia. Especially when this is combined with recent announcements from Lithuania on the procurement of CV90 and Leopard 2, which indicates that the Baltic states are working hard to increase their land warfare capabilities in a short space of time.

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on 19th June, 2025. This article was updated with additional information relating to the role of Patria in assembling the vehicles on the 27th June, 2025. The credit for the featured image is the Latvian MoD.