Swedish army orders Rheinmetall trucks for Patriot missile systems

Jan. 23 (UPI) -- German defense contractor Rheinmetall has been awarded a "double-digit million-euro" contract by the Swedish armed forces for vehicles to transport Patriot missile systems, the company announced.

Forty high-mobility trucks will be built by Rheinmetall's Munich-based MAN Military Vehicles division, including 16 tractor trucks and 24 transport vehicles based on the company's HX series.

Delivery of the vehicles is expected to start in 2021, Rheinmetall said in a press release.

Orders for HX-model logistics corps vehicles by FWV, the Swedish procurement agency, were previously made. About 10,000 HX trucks are in service, making it one of the most widely used military trucks in the world, the company said.

The contract is the first unified procurement project by Rhinemetall and Patriot missile manufacturer Raytheon since a partnership agreement reached in March 2018. The Patriot missile system and its integrated air defense and anti-missile defense can be found in the arsenals of seven NATO countries.

Rhinemetall did not disclose a monetary figure for the order, except to say it is in the range of tens of millions of Euros.

The U.S. State Department approved a sale of Patriot missile systems to Sweden, worth about $3.2 billion, in February 2018.