According to information published by the Newspaper website “Welt.de” on April 1, 2022, Germany has approved the delivery of 58 Pbv 501 tracked armored IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine. The Pbv 501 is a Swedish upgrade of ex-East German Army BMP-1 IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) that were delivered to Sweden from 1998 2001 to mechanize the Swedish Army infantry brigades.
The PbV 501 tracked armored IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) will be delivered by a Czech company that had bought the old armored vehicles of the Swedish army. To deliver the vehicles to Ukraine, the Czech company needed the agreement of Germany according to the rules of German export of weapons.
In May 1997, the Swedish Defense Equipment Administration awarded a contract worth around US$25 million to the Czech Republic VOP 026 repair facility for the modification and renovation of 350 ex-East German Army BMP-1 infantry combat vehicles for the Swedish Army.
The layout of the Pbv 501 (Pbv stands for Pansarbandvagn – armored vehicle in English) keeps the original design and armament of the Soviet-made BMP-1 tracked armored IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) that entered into service with the Russian army in 1967.