Latvia will deliver to Ukraine the CVR(T) combat reconnaissance tracked armored vehicles purchased from the UK, the Press Department of the Latvian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has confirmed to LETA.
In view of operational security, the MoD did not disclose the specific number of the machines to be transferred.
The ministry has previously announced that Latvia will provide military support to Ukraine in the amount of 0.25 percent of its gross domestic product every year until at least 2026. So far, Latvia has transferred to Ukraine a wide range of armaments and equipment, including helicopters and self-propelled howitzers once purchased from Austria.
The contract signed with the UK in 2014 provided for a total of 123 CVR(T) armored vehicles, of which 116 have been upgraded and seven are without overhaul – for mechanic training. The first vehicles were delivered in autumn 2015.
In 2019, another contract was signed with the United Kingdom for the purchase of additional vehicles.
National Armed Forces Commander Leonids Kalnins told journalists last September that new infantry fighting vehicles with at least level three protection are needed to take part in tactical operations and destroy the enemy’s front lines.
The infantry fighting vehicles are needed to rearm the Mechanized Infantry Brigade and to replace the CVR(T) in the future. This summer, Defense Minister Andris Spruds (Progressives) told LETA that the procurement of infantry fighting vehicles was in the final stages of the selection process.
Source: BNS
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