The Swedish defense company Saab will receive a new contract for its RBS 70 NG MANPADS - Finland plans to strengthen them. This country already has in service the basic modification of the RBS 70, which is in service with the Finnish army under the designation ITO05M (Ilmatorjuntaohjus 05M).
This is reported by the Finnish military magazine Reserviläinen. It is known that the agreement will include training equipment, maintenance, and its cost will be 108 million euros. Achieving full combat capability is planned by the end of this decade. What such terms (up to four years) may be related to is not reported.
Read more: Ukraine Got the Swedish RBS 70 SAM’s, Which Requested Back In August 2022, As Well As an Interesting Radar For Them
Recall that the RBS 70 man-portable air-defense system is in service with the Defense Forces ща Ukraine. The latest version of this system - RBS 70 NG - has a range of up to 9 km, an updated digital sight, a built-in thermal imager, automatic target tracking, etc.
The RBS 70 NG can be integrated with various vehicles. In 2024, Saab received its first customer for the mobile RBS 70 NG air defense system based on the JLTV.
In May of this year, a new Bolide 2 missile was introduced for the RBS 70, which can be used, in particular, with the old version of this system.
The updated missile received a larger warhead (50% more explosive and 40% more 3-mm tungsten striking elements), a modernized inertial navigation system and a modular architecture, thanks to which further upgrades can be carried out faster and more efficiently.
Recall that the Armed Forces of Ukraine first showed the RBS 70 in action back in 2023, and in a rather interesting episode, when it destroyed a Ka-52 attack helicopter.
As Defense Express reported, Saab faced orders for up to 242 Gripens from Ukraine, Canada, Brazil
.
Read more: Saab Is Considering Low-Cost Ways for Gripen to Counter Shahed Drones Based on Ukraine's Experience
