Patria's final offer for the lucrative deal was submitted half an hour after the deadline in November. Patria explained that it had had to wait longer than anticipated for answers from its subcontractors to the Portuguese defence ministry's additional inquiries.
Patria said that Portugal failed to observe its own rules on the bidding process, which allow a firm submitting a tender eight additional days to respond to the latest inquiries or adjustments presented by the client.
Patria was competing with two other companies to clinch a deal to supply 300 armoured wheeled vehicles to Portugal.
Patria has established a good reputation for its military hardware. Patria has already orders for about 800 Patria AMV 8x8 vehicles for Poland and Finland.
The defence group is due to demonstrate its armoured wheeled vehicles next in Lithuania and Latvia. Management, undoubtedly, do not want a repeat of the Portuguese embarrassment in those countries.