TIRANA, August 22/ATA/ The Albanian Army will receive for the first time the LMV 2 Light Multirole Vehicle manufactured by Iveco Defence Vehicles, the military division of the Italian company Iveco.
“A new historical moment for LMV2: The Albanian Armed Forces will be equipped with our vehicles…”, Iveco Defence Vehicles wrote in its Linkedin post.
Its announcement also explains that the purchase of the military vehicles will be financed by the European Union through the European Peace Facility and implemented by Italy’s Agency for Development Cooperation (AID).
The Ministry of Defense said to ATA that, “The European Union, through the European Peace Facility, established in March 2021 and which aims to strengthen the defense capacities of partner countries as well as increase regional and global security, has supported Albania with two aid packages with a total value of 28 million euros.
The approved projects will support the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania. The first aid package, approved in July 2024, provides for the equipment with light armored vehicles (about 20 of them) worth 13 million euros.
While the second package, recently approved, worth 15 million euros, will equip the Armed Forces with multifunctional transport and engineering vehicles, with dual use both for supporting EU operations and for dealing with civil emergencies in the country and the region. This entire process, from a budgetary, procurement and procedural point of view, is led and monitored by EU structures.
For Albania, the LMV2 represents a qualitative step in the upgrade of military capabilities, especially compared to the current fleet of vehicles, such as the American Humvee or the scarce MRAP vehicles.
This development puts the country in step with its neighbors, such as North Macedonia and Montenegro, which have already invested in similar modern platforms.
From a strategic perspective, the supply of the LMV2 not only increases the readiness and operational capabilities of the Armed Forces, but also strengthens Albania's partnership with NATO, the EU and Italy, contributing to the security and stability of the Balkan region.
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