Patria adopts new business model in response to changing operational environment

Finnish defence manufacturer Patria announced on 25 April 2025 that it is transitioning to a new operating model, effective from 1 June 2025.

The changes, the company explained, are a response to “significantly increasing demand and a constantly changing operating environment”.

Moving forward, Patria has decided to focus its operations on three key business areas with profit responsibility:

• Protected Mobility – responsible for new vehicle sales;
• Defence and Weapon Systems – responsible for, among other things, weapon systems, air surveillance systems and unmanned systems;
• Sustainment Solutions – responsible for lifecycle support, software products, the strategic partnership with the Finnish Defence Forces and Patria’s public authority business.

The key strategic drivers for the new strategy include substantial increased defence spending on a national and EU level, the strong increase in the demand for defence solutions and equipment, as well as the importance of combined territorial defence and the Arctic region’s defence in the context of Finland’s and Sweden’s membership of NATO.

The company’s new group management team has now been appointed and will begin operations under the news structure on 1 June 2025. Esa Rautalinko remains as Patria’s President and CEO, while the executive vice presidents running the new business areas will be Jussi Järvinen (Protected Mobility), Mikko Leino (Defence and Weapon Systems) and Pekka Ruutu (Sustainment Solutions).

The change negotiations related to developing the new operating model began on 17 March 2025 and involved approximately 1,600 people. As a result of the negotiations, the changes are expected to affect approximately 400 people, although each of these individuals will be offered a job role. Patria emphasised in its announcement that personnel reductions were not the goal of the negotiations and that the company anticipates that its headcount will grow significantly this year.

Rautalinko was quoted by Patria as stating, “I want to thank all personnel at Patria for the very constructive, good-spirited and quickly implemented change negotiations. Now we can fully focus on the implementation of the new operating model and the execution of our strategy. The rapid change in our operating environment provides a huge opportunity for us to grow, and we must be even more efficient in responding to it.”