Patria Pasi

Norwegian Sisu XA-185, belonging to the Royal Guards (Hans Majestet Kongens Garde)

The Patria Pasi (earlier known as the Sisu Pasi) is a Finnish made six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier(APC) originally designed for Finnish Defence Forces. The first version was produced in 1983 and serial production began in 1984. It was designed to operate with ease of use, simple structure and low-cost maintenance. The basic appearance and configuration of Patria Pasi is similar to most wheeled APCs. The XA-180 and XA-185 versions are fully amphibious while the XA-203 is not.

Finnish Firm SISU built a wheeled 6×6 prototype in 1982 to meet the requirements of the Finnish Defence Forces as a replacement to the ageing Russian BTR-60’s in service at the time. The SISU XA-180 prototype was selected after trials and entered production in 1984, which has now been carried out by Patria for a number of years.

The series is known as the XA-180, as well as Patria Pasi and includes new XA designationed vehicles as the series has been upgraded over the years such as the XA-200. The series has been exported to a number of countries due to its high performance on UN Peace keeping missions, as original sales and still proven popular with a number of 2nd hand sales as more modern 8×8 vehicles such as the German Boxer and Patria AMV are being purchased as its replacement with those nations who originally purchased it. Production of the vehicle has now ceased.

Weight 13.5 tonnes
Length 7.35 m
Width 2.9 m
Height 2.77 m
Crew 2 (+16 passengers)
Armor 10 mm
Primary armament 12.7 mm (aka .50cal) NSV machine gun
Engine various per model –XA-180: Valmet 611 DSBJA diesel
XA-200: Valmet 612 DWIBIC (EURO 2), 6 in-line cylinders, turbo-charged, intercooled diesel
XA-180: 236 hp (176 kW)
XA-200; 271 hp (202 kW) at 2100 rpm, max torque 1080 Nm at 1600 rpm
Power/weight ratio 17.48 hp/tonne
Suspension parabolic leaf-springs with hydraulic shock absorbers
Operational range 900 km
Speed 100+ km/h, swim 10 km/h

Versions

Sisu XA-180

Original six wheeler, carries crew of 2 and 16 troops. Empty weight ca 12 tonnes.

Sisu XA-185

Upgraded version, carries crew of 2 and 18 troops. Has a more powerful engine and improved power transmission. Used as ambulance in the Norwegian Army.

Sisu XA-186

Upgraded armour. Armoured and machine assisted gun turret (.50 BMG). Can not swim because of the heavy armour. Empty weight ca 19 tonnes. Engine and transmission same as XA-185.

Sisu XA-188

Used by the Netherlands Army.

Sisu XA-200

The 200 series looks a little different from older variants due to increased armour. It lacks amphibious capabilities but can wade through water that is up to 1.5 m deep. The improved armour protects the passengers against up to 14.5 mm small arms fire. It is also equipped with modern optical aids like periscopes and night vision. The armor upgrade was initiated after the realisation that the previous armor was inadequate, even modern armor-piercing 7.62 mm ammunition could pierce the older XA-180 and XA-185 models in certain areas. The XA-202 was originally developed for Communications and Command. The XA-203 was made as a temporary replacement for XA-185, and is intended to be replaced by Patria AMVs in Finnish service.

There are numerous sub-versions of the different main versions, e.g. armored personnel carriers, ambulance, communications, surface-to-air missile carrier, radar vehicle, headquarters, fire-fighting and anti-tank versions among others.