Spanish-built combat vehicles for Latvia to carry Israeli turrets despite arms embargo

A Spanish arms company has begun delivering infantry fighting vehicles fitted with Israeli weapons systems to Latvia, despite the Spanish government declaring an arms embargo on Israel last year, Israeli business daily Globes reported on Thursday. According to the report, Latvia ordered 84 of the vehicles last year from General Dynamics European Land Systems-Santa Barbara Sistemas (GDELS-SBS), which is headquartered in Madrid, in a deal worth around €800m ($929m), with all the vehicles due to be delivered by 2029. The infantry fighting vehicles, called Mednieks, are equipped with unmanned turret systems, called UT30 MK2, which are produced by the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems. “The delivery of infantry fighting vehicles is a significant step toward strengthening Latvia’s defence capabilities,” Latvia’s Defence Minister Raivis Melnis said last week, adding that the Mednieks would reinforce his country’s armed forces “as well as promote cooperation between the National Armed Forces and Nato allies”. Read more: Spanish-built combat vehicles for Latvia to carry Israeli turrets despite arms embargo