EC to support two cross-border defense procurement projects involving Latvia - foreign minister

  • 2024-11-15
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - The European Commission (EC) has approved funding for two cross-border procurement projects involving Latvia, Foreign Minister Baiba Braze (New Unity) said on X.

According to the foreign minister, one of the EC-supported projects is Jamie, or "Joint Air Missile Defence Initiative in Europe". The project is expected to result in the common procurement of IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defense systems by six EU member states: Germany, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Austria, Estonia and Latvia. These are systems for protection against air threats such as combat aircraft, attack helicopters and unmanned air systems.

The other project is EDIRPA, which will support the procurement of common armored vehicle systems (CAVS), modern armored carriers for protected troop transport, by four member states: Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Germany. The modern armored vehicles offer high performance and unprecedented mobility. The total budget of EDIRPA is EUR 310 million.

The European Commission has approved funding for a total of five cross-border projects to support more coordinated and efficient defense procurement among EU member states. Part of the jointly procured weapons, missiles and ammunition will be sent to Ukraine, the EC said Thursday.