Patria will exhibit its AMV XP 8×8 armored wheeled vehicle fitted with the Kongsberg PROTECTOR Medium Caliber Turret 30 (MCT-30) at the Slovenian International Defence Exhibition and Conference (SIDEC), held in Celje from November 10 to 12, 2026, the company announced on November 6. The Finnish manufacturer will also present its Patria OPTIME sustainment offer at stand 21.
The display lands in a market where Patria has an open file. On January 30, 2025, Slovenia’s government authorized the Ministry of Defence to launch the procurement of 106 AMV XP vehicles, estimated at around €700 million, to equip a combat reconnaissance battalion and a medium battalion battle group with 53 vehicles each. In late 2025, the outgoing cabinet deferred any contract until after the parliamentary election, citing requirements for counter-drone protection and for domestic industry involvement in turret production. SIDEC is organized by the Slovenian Ministry of Defence with the Slovenian Armed Forces and the national defence industry cluster.
Patria AMV XP and Kongsberg MCT-30: Configuration and Specifications
The AMV XP is the heavier evolution of the Armoured Modular Vehicle family, with XP standing for extra payload, performance and protection. Patria lists a maximum combat weight of 32,000 kg and a maximum payload of 15,000 kg, on a hull 8.1 m long (8.5 m optional), 2.8 m wide and 2.4 m high. A 450 kW engine gives roughly 14 kW per tonne at full combat weight, and road speed exceeds 100 km/h. Protection is modular against ballistic, mine and IED threats, scaled to customer requirements.
The MCT-30 is an unmanned turret with no hull penetration, which preserves internal volume for the dismount section. Publicly available specifications indicate a stabilized 30×173 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II chain gun with linkless feed, a coaxial machine gun, day and thermal sights with a laser rangefinder, and an optional Javelin anti-tank guided missile launcher. The turret serves on US Army Stryker vehicles and on the US Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV-30), for which Kongsberg holds a framework agreement covering 175 turrets.
The pairing is an intra-group offer: Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace owns 49.9% of Patria and the State of Finland 50.1%. Patria OPTIME, powered by the ILIAS digital system, bundles fleet maintenance, later-lifecycle modifications and integrations, supply chain management and training into a phased package built with the customer.
Slovenia’s 106-Vehicle 8×8 Program After the 2026 Election
The Slovenian Army operates 30 earlier-generation AMVs, known locally as Svarun, from a 2006 order for 135 vehicles that later became the subject of bribery investigations in Slovenia, Finland and Austria. In 2022, the Golob government cancelled its predecessor’s agreement to buy 45 Boxer vehicles through the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR). It announced its intent to buy the AMV XP in July 2024 and signed a letter of intent with Finland on February 13, 2025, structuring the deal as a government-to-government purchase. The government had set implementation periods of 2025 to 2028 for the first 53 vehicles and 2027 to 2030 for the second batch, and no order has been placed.
The March 2026 election produced a center-right coalition under Prime Minister Janez Janša, sworn in on June 4, 2026. Defence Minister Valentin Hajdinjak belongs to New Slovenia (NSi), whose former minister Matej Tonin signed the Boxer agreement and criticized the previous government for delaying the Patria purchase. No contract award has been announced, and the new government has not publicly detailed its position on the framework. Domestic industry is also positioned: Slovenian firm Valhalla Turrets already supplies Mangart 25 remote weapon stations for the army’s existing Patria vehicles.
Analysis: The MCT-30 configuration targets the requirement that stalled the program. Publicly available data indicate the Mk44 can fire programmable airburst ammunition, increasingly used against small unmanned aircraft, which gives Patria an answer to the counter-drone condition without redesigning the vehicle. The harder question is political: a proven NATO turret supports interoperability for the medium battalion battle group Slovenia owes the Alliance, while a domestic weapon station would deliver the local industrial share Ljubljana has signaled it wants.
The milestones to watch are a government decision on the 106-vehicle framework, the turret and counter-drone configuration selected, and the work share assigned to Slovenian industry. In Slovakia, Patria completed AMV XP deliveries with the last ambulance vehicles in June 2026, and a revised agreement signed later that month aims to accelerate deliveries of the infantry fighting vehicle variant.
