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Patria and British defense firm Babcock International additionally signed an agreement to manufacture the armored carrier in the U.K. under the program, called Common Armoured Vehicle System or CAVS, the companies said. The Finnish defense company is the lead designer of CAVS, based on the Patria 6x6 wheeled platform and manufactured in Finland but also locally in Latvia, with plans for production in Germany.

The APC costs between €1.1 million and €1.5 million (US$1.3 million-1.8 million) per vehicle, based on recent purchases by Latvia and Sweden.

The Boxer, for comparison, is supposed to be €4-5 million for its APC variant and €7-9 million for its IFV variant. I couldn't find per-unit costs for the Ajax (it also comes as both an APC and an IFV, as well as some other variants, like the Boxer, so costs would differ between them), but the total cost is around €4.7 billion for 589 vehicles, which averages out to around 8 million per vehicle - so maybe the IFV ones are something like 10 mil, while the APCs like 6 mil, as a rough guesstimate. Maybe somewhat cheaper, since a big part of the ballooning costs was presumably R&D and testing, so after that's ironed out the actual manufacturing costs shouldn't be as big.

“As European security needs to be strengthened, multinational collaboration is increasingly important for interoperability, interchangeability and security of supply among allies,” Patria CEO Esa Rautalinko said in a statement. Patria says it’s received orders for nearly 1,000 6x6 vehicles, and delivered more than 250 through the CAVS program, making it the current best-seller in the Finnish company’s portfolio. Separately, Patria announced a new tracked APC at DSEI UK on Tuesday for all-terrain troop transport, which it aims to have ready for serial production in 2027. Babcock will manufacture the Patria 6x6 vehicles for the British Army, under the agreement announced on Tuesday, after the U.K. Ministry of Defence officially joined the CAVS program. “Our partnership brings clear benefits,” said Jussi Järvinen, Patria’s executive vice president for protected mobility. “The UK needs a proven ready-to-use vehicle platform, and the Patria 6x6, already operational in NATO countries, will be locally built and supported to meet British Army requirements.” Babcock said CAVS is being used by a growing number of countries in the Joint Expeditionary Force alliance, of which the U.K. is a member, with JEF members Finland, Latvia, Sweden, Denmark and Germany all buying the APC. “We are proud to be working with Patria as their official build partner on the 6×6, and as a strategic partner of the British Army, we are perfectly positioned to deliver a large fleet of formidable, proven armored personnel carriers,” said Tom Newman, the CEO for Babcock’s land sector.

CAVS has Stanag level 2 ballistic and mine protection, designed to withstand armored-piercing rifle rounds, and can be upgraded to level 4 for protection against high-caliber AP rounds. The vehicle can carry up to 10 soldiers in the rear, in addition to the driver and commander. The all-wheel-drive, diesel-powered APC has a maximum combat weight of 24 metric tons, including a maximum payload of 8.5 tons, and has a top speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour and a range of more than 700 kilometers.

The all-terrain troop carrier was unveiled at the DSEI UK defense show in London on Tuesday, and fills a hole in the market between lighter and heavier vehicles, according to Patria. Trackx is designed to carry 12 soldiers with equipment, including a driver, commander and ten dismounts. Patria is pitching Trackx as a modern alternative in the 13-18 metric-ton class of tracked armor, a segment still dominated by the M113, a 65-year old design that has recently seen extensive use in Ukraine. With most recent armor designs trending heavier, the new APC could provide European forces with a lighter, more affordable option for all-terrain troop transport.

“There is nothing similar on the market, there is currently no comparable product segment from any other manufacturer,” Jussi Järvinen, Patria’s executive vice president for protected mobility, told Defense News in a written reply to questions. “Competitors mostly manufacture lighter or significantly heavier and more expensive vehicles.”

either too light or too heavy... wait a minute

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interim_Armored_Vehicle "In a June 1999 communique, U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki said "our heavy forces are too heavy and our light forces lack staying power." ... He called for a mid-weight unit that would strike a balance between heavy armor and infantry."

Trackx is the first production-ready vehicle to come out of the European Union-funded FAMOUS program to develop future high-mobility armor, for which Finland is the lead nation and Patria the coordinating company. Patria presented a FAMOUS concept vehicle at the Eurosatory defense show in Paris last year. The new APC could be “a very suitable solution” for countries that operate the M113 or MT-LB type light tracked armor and are looking for a replacement, according to Patria. The M113, with more than 40 variants, is one of the most widely used combat vehicles in the world, with more than 80,000 vehicles produced.

The maximum combat weight of Patria’s new APC is 15.5 tons, with ballistic protection against small-arms fire that can be upgraded to protect against armor-piercing rifle rounds. Patria says it has extensively tested Trackx on roads, in forests, bogs and snow. The vehicle is equipped with rubber tracks, and designed to have low ground pressure, a low center of gravity and adjustable hydro-pneumatic suspension for each track wheel. Trackx has drawn “considerable attention” from potential customers, as the APC addresses gaps in land mobility, according to Järvinen. He said most of the interest is from countries in the EU, but there are also inquiries from outside Europe. With regards to potential markets, the executive said “it’s important to note” that the FAMOUS program member countries contributed to development efforts and helped set the requirements. In addition to Finland, eight EU countries participate in the program, including France, Germany and Spain.

The total budget of the FAMOUS program is around €132 million ($155 million), including around €9 million in funding from the European Commission and €95 million from the European Defence Fund, with the remainder funded by the member countries and the participating companies. For Finland, the program is part of a project to replace its existing fleet of all-terrain vehicles, with a requirement to operate in harsh northern weather and terrain conditions. Patria’s partners in the FAMOUS consortium include France’s Arquus, French-German KNDS and Spain’s Indra. The Finnish company said the manufacturing role of its partners will depend on potential customer nations. Patria said its operating model is based on the strong role of local production, and it has experience in setting up wheeled-armor programs in other countries. The company is the lead designer of the Common Armoured Vehicle System based on the Patria 6x6 wheeled platform, which is manufactured in Finland but also in Latvia, with plans for local production in Germany.