Latvia takes delivery of its first Hunter infantry fighting vehicle under an €800 million programme

Latvia accepted the first Hunter (Mednieks) infantry fighting vehicle on 7 October 2026 at a ceremony attended by Defence Minister Raivis Melnis, Latvia's public broadcaster LSM reported. The tracked combat vehicle is the first of 84 ordered from Spanish manufacturer GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas under contracts signed in January and June 2025. The delivery marks a structural change in Latvian ground forces: for the first time, the country fields a tracked infantry fighting vehicle rather than relying on wheeled armoured transports and older Soviet-era equipment assigned to units. Melnis said the vehicles would strengthen the mobility, protection and firepower of mechanised units and facilitate integration with NATO allies.

Programme structure and contracts

Latvia's Defence Ministry signed the initial contract for 42 Hunter vehicles with GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas in January 2025, with deliveries originally scheduled to run through 2027, The Defense Post reported in August 2026. In June 2025 the ministry doubled the order to 84 vehicles, bringing the total programme value to nearly €800 million. A separate 13-year maintenance and technical support agreement, also with expanded Latvian company participation, runs through 31 December 2037, tying national industrial capacity to the programme's operational life.

A domestic-content clause requires that at least 30 per cent of the programme's value involve Latvian industry. Assembly, integration, testing and in-country servicing are carried out by Patria Latvia at its Valmiera facility. GDELS supplies the rolling stock based on the ASCOD tracked platform; Patria handles the remainder of the build cycle. The arrangement is intended to transfer technical knowledge and create a sustainable maintenance base inside Latvia rather than routing all sustainment work abroad.

Vehicle specifications

The Hunter is built on the ASCOD platform and carries NATO-standard Level 4 armour protection. Its armament consists of an automatic cannon, anti-tank guided weapons and an auxiliary machine gun. The vehicle weighs 45 tonnes, produces 1,100 horsepower, reaches a top speed of 70 kilometres per hour and has an operational range of approximately 500 kilometres. The crew compartment holds three personnel; the troop section accommodates up to eight service members in full combat gear, according to The Defense Post. The Land Forces Mechanised Infantry Brigade selected the name Mednieks — Hunter in Latvian — and will be the primary user of the fleet.

NATO command context

The first Hunter delivery comes three months after a reorganisation of NATO's command structure over Latvia. On 1 July 2026, Latvia's land forces were formally transferred to the tactical command of NATO's 1st German-Dutch Corps at a ceremony in Valga-Valka, the twin city straddling the Estonian-Latvian border, ERR reported. The corps, headquartered in Münster and capable of commanding a multinational force of up to 50,000 troops, took over responsibility for both Estonian and Latvian formations. Multinational Corps Northeast, previously the command authority, refocused its mission on Poland and Lithuania, including the strategically important Suwałki Corridor.

Under the new structure, the 1st German-Dutch Corps sits one level above the Estonian division and Latvia's equivalent formations in NATO's command hierarchy. Defence officials in Tallinn and Riga described the change as fulfilling commitments made at the 2025 NATO summit. The Hunter fleet will constitute the primary tracked fighting capability the Latvian Mechanised Infantry Brigade contributes to that command, and its on-time delivery matters to operational planning timelines agreed between Riga and Münster.

The Hunter deliveries fit within a broader re-equipment wave across the Baltic states. Estonia is simultaneously receiving its first K2 Black Panther main battle tanks from South Korea under a 2024 contract, while Lithuania has begun receiving Boxer armoured vehicles under a German-led programme. Together the three programmes represent a structural shift from light infantry to armoured manoeuvre forces, which NATO planners say is the minimum required to contest a potential Russian armoured thrust along the Suwałki corridor before Alliance reinforcements arrive. Latvia's Defence Minister Andris Sprūds said the Hunter programme, combined with a planned artillery expansion, would give the Latvian National Armed Forces a credible combined-arms capacity by 2028 for the first time in the post-Soviet era, according to LSM English.

Sources

• LSM English — Latvia's first Hunter IFV delivery (via ua.news)
• The Defense Post — Latvia Hunter Infantry Fighting Vehicle, 27 August 2026
• LSM English — Latvia shows off new Hunter military vehicle, 8 June 2026
• ERR — Gallery: Dutch-German corps take over command of Estonian, Latvian NATO forces
• NATO Allied Land Command — NATO Strengthens Eastern Flank as 1 German-Netherlands Corps Assumes Estonia-Latvia Mission
• LSM English — Joint German-Dutch corps to take leading role in Latvia and Estonia, 29 May 2026