The Finnish Defence Forces have signed an agreement with Scania’s subsidiary Scania Suomi Oy to buy a total of 184 trucks and tractor units, to be delivered through 2017. The contract includes service and maintenance contracts for 6+6+3 years, plus an option for delivering an additional 69 trucks. Total order value is in the area of SEK 600 million.
“This is a strategically significant order for Scania,” states Christopher Podgorski, Senior Vice President Trucks at Scania. “It shows that Scania can offer the uptime and performance required in defence applications, and at the same time, when the buyer is counting every penny, be the manufacturer that offers the lowest total cost of ownership.
The Finnish Defence Forces are buying both tractors and rigids. Every one of them has at least two drive axles, and some of the tractor units have three driving axles for extremely good traction. The vehicles are primarily intended for material transport and the majority of them are equipped with hooklifts. All of them are equipped with Scania’s 13-litre, 6-cylinder inline engine and Scania’s medium-sized G cab. Apart from the choice of colour, the trucks will differ insignificantly from civilian trucks, primarily by retrofitting certain types of equipment at Scania’s workshop in Jyvaskyla.
“This order from the Finnish Defence is proof that Scania’s approach – offering ordinary civilian vehicles to extremely demanding defence customers – is bearing fruit,” says Heikki Fant, Product Manager Defence Applications at Scania. “Finland is coming to the same reasoned conclusion as a number of other defence customers, that there is no longer a need for specially equipped vehicles to match their shifting military requirements. It’s also worth noting that the engines meet Euro 6, the latest emission class requirements, and that R&M will be taken care of in Scania’s nationwide network of workshops.”
Deliveries begin in 2014 and will be completed in 2017.
