Latvia Drops the Swedish Archer for Excalibur Army's Morana 155 mm Howitzer — First Deliveries 2027, BAE Disputes the Timeline
Riga, 17 September 2026
Key points
- Latvia's cabinet decided on 15 September to buy the Morana, a 155 mm wheeled self-propelled howitzer made by the Czech company Excalibur Army, a Czechoslovak Group subsidiary; the defence ministry announced it on 17 September
- The ministry lists four criteria: cost, delivery terms, operational capabilities and the involvement of local industry, which it says "is envisaged as part of the contract"
- It ends a June 2025 letter of intent with Sweden to conclude a later contract for 18 Archers; the ministry says that route "is currently not possible" given "necessary financial resources and relatively long delivery times"
- No quantity, value or contract is published; Latvian public media report first deliveries planned for 2027 and a price difference in the tens of millions of euros
- BAE Systems disputes the delivery argument, saying leased Archers could have arrived a month after signature with new-build guns from 2027; Swedish defence minister Pål Jonson said Stockholm remains convinced its offer would have brought both countries long-term strategic and industrial benefits
Latvia has walked away from an in-service Swedish gun, offered with loan systems by the country that fields a battalion on its soil, for a Czech howitzer that no army operates.
Morana was first shown in 2022: a 52-calibre gun on a Tatra 8x8 chassis with an autoloader, a crew of three, 45 rounds on board and a stated range beyond 41 kilometres. Latvian public media describe it as still in active testing, and no order before Riga's has been reported. Archer is in Swedish service and in use with Ukrainian forces. Raivis Melnis, the defence minister, conceded the comparison: the Swedish system "may be better on some indicators", but if the armed forces' commander says his soldiers are ready to train and fight with the other, "and they save money and get the system in the timeframe they need, then the decision is simply to go for what is needed and what we can afford". Airis Rikveilis, the ministry's state secretary, said Sweden "remains one of our most important defence partners".
Riga has taken the risk that defence ministries usually pay to avoid, launch-customer status, and the only party that has vouched for the delivery schedule is the seller. The decision makes sense on one reading. Czechoslovak Group's real offer to a Baltic state is ammunition, and a howitzer sold with local industrial work is a way into a 155 mm supply relationship that outlasts the guns; that would also explain why industry involvement is written into the contract while quantity is not. Against it stands a plain asymmetry. BAE's counter-claim, guns in a month, is checkable against Swedish stocks, while a 2027 date for a system in testing is checkable against nothing. Sweden's armoured battalion in the NATO brigade at Ādaži will not leave over a procurement decision, but Stockholm has learned what a letter of intent with Riga is worth, and so have the vendors behind Latvia's other artillery commitments. Signal No. 149 watches for a contract with a quantity and a delivery year; a contract that names the first battery's acceptance date, and a penalty, would answer BAE.
