Japan selects winner of wheeled armored personnel carrier competition

Update: This story now has comment from the Japanese government about the quantity of vehicles it plans to purchase, included on Dec. 22, 2022, at 9:55 a.m. ET.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan has selected Finland’s Patria AMV as its next wheeled armored personnel carrier following a two-stage evaluation process to replace its fleet of Type 96 eight-wheel drive armored vehicles.

Japan’s Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics Agency announced Friday that the AMV was selected over the Mitsubishi Armored Vehicle. The country’s evaluation process considered cost, performance, logistics and the production base for each vehicle.

The agency also said that while both vehicles scored similarly in logistics support and in-country production capabilities, the AMV scored better against its opponent in terms of cost and overall performance.

Japan had shortlisted Patria, local company Mitsubishi and American contractor General Dynamics Land Systems in 2019 as contenders for its Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier competition. GDLS offered the LAV 6.0 platform.

All three contenders were to have delivered prototype vehicles to Japan for evaluation by March 30, 2022, although the agency’s announcement stated that GDLS did not do so.

Patria said in a news release announcing its selection that it will manufacture the AMVs for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force in the country under license. Janne Räkköläinen, a senior vice president at Patria, noted in the release that Japan will be the ninth user of the AMV family and that the company has “experience of licensing and cooperation with local industries in many countries.”

Japan’s Defense Ministry had sought to acquire 29 vehicles through this program in its fiscal 2023 budget request, released in late August, with the expectation all vehicles would be delivered in three years.

Japan currently has more than 360 Types 96 platforms in its inventory. The government told Defense News it plans to acquire 140 armored wheeled armored vehicles as personnel carriers over the next five years, “but the total number of vehicles to be procured is still under consideration and we cannot provide an answer at this point.”

The government has also contacted Mitsubishi to develop a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle, mortar carrier and reconnaissance vehicle based on the Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle, with prototypes of the two former vehicle types seen in Japan undergoing tests in October.

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