Sweden opts for AWV re-run

Sweden will re-run its armoured wheeled vehicle (AWV) contest after the country's defence procurement body decided against appealing a ruling from a Swedish court, which said that the process behind the original contest was unlawful.

The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) told Jane's on 19 November that it had elected against an appeal because of concerns over the impact it would have on the delivery schedule for the AWVs.

"The main thing is that the armed forces need the vehicles operational by 2014," said an FMV spokesman.

"If we decided to appeal, that is a legal process that goes on for a while, which makes it more difficult for us to deliver in time for the armed forces," he added.

In June this year, FMV awarded a EUR240 million (USD358 million) contract to Finland's Patria to produce 113 of its Armoured Modular Vehicle 8x8 platforms under the AWV programme. The procurement was frozen in July following a protest by BAE Systems, whose Swedish division Hägglunds had submitted its Modular Armoured Tactical System.