Sisu (now Patria Vehicles) developed in the early 1980s the XA-180 series of 6x6 armoured personnel carriers (APCs), which has been under continuous production and development since its inception.

Improvements have included a more powerful diesel engine, automatic transmission, higher level of protection against small-arms fire, splinters and mines and greater internal volume.

So far, more than 1,200 XA-series 6x6 vehicles have been built for the home and export markets and production will continue to at least 2005 under present orders.

The current production model is the XA-200 series, which includes the XA-203 APC and the XA-202 system platform, which has a raised roof at the back for greater internal volume and is typically used in the command-post role.

The XA-203 can be fitted with a wide range of weapon systems but is normally armed with a pintle/turret or remote-controlled 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine gun. Some of the latest production Swedish XA-203s are fitted with a one-person turret armed with a 20mm cannon.

Numerous specialised versions of the XA series are available, such as air-defence variants fitted with the Thales Air Defence Crotale New Generation, air-defence radars and special radio antenna. For Mailing, it has also been fitted with the AMOS twin 120mm mortar system, General Dynamics Land Systems two-person 25mm and 30mm turrets and a Tube-launched Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) system carrier.

Early models were fully amphibious but current production models are not. Standard equipment includes bulletproof windows, nuclear, biological and chemical defensive system, air-conditioning system, auxiliary power unit, snow chains and powered steering.

The baseline vehicle has protection against 7.62mm ball attack but higher levels of protection are available for up to 14.5mm armour-piercing.

Patria Vehicles has more recently developed and put into production the Armoured Modular Vehicle (AMV). Compared to the XA-200 series, the AMV has greater mobility, payload and armour protection.