Combat Vehicle 90 (CV 90) Stridsfordon-90

The CV90 family of vehicles give unrivalled performance in the 20-35 tonne class and have been deployed by national forces, the UN and NATO in missions across the globe including in Afghanistan. With more than 25 years’ experience in enhancing and developing the CV90 family, designers maximised the availability and cost-efficiency of these vehicles throughout their lifecycle. Customer priorities and affordability are key with future proof designs leading to further advances. On 27 August 2020, the Swedish army received its 100th Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90, in Swedish: Stridsfordon 90, Strf90).

The CV90 platform is engineered to provide optimum mobility and agility. For ease of deployment it features a range of land and air transportation options. On the ground it delivers first-class performance even in the toughest terrains, providing personnel with the tactical edge. BAE Systems offers a complete through-life support commitment to CV90 customers. The experienced teams at Military & Technical Services work from the earliest stage of specification all the way through to phase-out, ensuring systems provide maximum effectiveness throughout operational life.

In the middle of the 1980s Hägglunds started the development of a new family of Combat Vehicles called Combat Vehicle 90 for the Swedish Army. Five prototypes were delivered in 1988 and were tested during extensive trials for three years. In March 1991, the Swedish Army placed the first series production order for the Swedish Combat Vehicle 90 Family. The first deliveries started in 1993, and now over 500 CV90's have been delivered to the Swedish Army, with final delivery to Sweden in 2002.

Prevailing wisdom by the late 1990s was that lighter combat vehicles would be easier to deploy through greatly reduced requirements for support equipment part and parcel of heavy forces, such as fuel tankers, bridging equipment, heavy transporters, armored recovery vehicles, heavy maintenance equipment, etc. Advocates of this approach believed that speed and situational awareness compensate for the loss of protection provided by a heavy armor. The shift of demand in favor of lighter combat vehicles was not restricted to the US, as European armies were replacing heavy tracked combat vehicles with lighter combat vehicles. While EU production of tanks, tracked infantry fighting vehicles, and heavy self-propelled tracked howitzers plummeted, sales of wheeled combat vehicles (Mowag Piranha, Patria AMV, and Steyr Pandur) and light tracked combat vehicles (Hägglunds CV-90) increased.

Operations in places like Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo, and Somalia highlighted the advantages of vehicles small enough to drive on narrow city streets and low weight capacity bridges with sufficient survivability and lethality to deal with potentially surly populations.

CV90 met great interest from other countries, like Norway, where a contract for 104 units of CV9030 IFV was signed by the Norwegian Army Materiel Command in April 1994. The contract was won after more than two years of extensive and highly competitive trials between five of the world's leading defence industries. Series deliveries were completed in november 2000. The CV9030 IFV has also been ordered by Switzerland (186 units), Finland (57 + 45 units) and Holland (184 units). The CV9030 IFV is a good example of the strength of the philosophy behind the development of the CV90 family. An armored vehicle family that will be of vital importance in the new armored and mechanised brigades. A basic concept that can easily meet other requirements. In this case, a turret with stabilised 30 mm armament and computer assisted fire control system.

A lot of effort has been put into the development of CV90, to create a system with low life cycle cost by using well-proven components and by easy maintenance and the advantages of a family concept, using one basic chassis for all the variants. The CV90 is designed to give maximum performance in the most inhospitable terrain and hostile combat environments. It is extremely agile, has a low and very compact structure, minimised radar and IR signatures, and firepower that can meet the threats of tomorrow both on the ground and in the air.

Combat Vehicle 90 (CV 90 - StridsFordon 90) is jointly developed and manufactured by Hagglunds AB (chassis) and Bofors AB (turret, armament and ammunition). The CV 90 family consists of: CV 90 (the basic armored infantry fighting vehicle, armed with a 40 mm automatic cannon); Anti-aircraft vehicle 90; Forward observer vehicle 90; Command post vehicle 90; and Recovery vehicle 90. All vehicles are designed for maximum performance in the most inhospitable terrain and hostile combat environments.

The CV 90 is an extremely agile, multi-role combat vehicle with all-target capability, a low very compact structure and minimized radar and IR-signatures. The basic turret is electrically operated and houses a CelsiusTech UTAAS sight with integrated laser rangefinder and thermal camera. The 40 mm Bofors autocannon assures lethality to all other light armored vehicles and even offers a chance to kill enemy tanks from flanking positions with its APFSDS-T ammo.

In February 2010 BAE Systems delivered the 1,000 CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicle, marking a milestone for a vehicle that has been in production since 1991. CV90, an agile, multi-role combat vehicle with all-target capabilities ranging from small targets to larger threats, has been continuously developed to meet the challenges of today’s threat scenario. The 1,000 vehicle was delivered to the Netherlands, which has a contract in place for 184 CV9035 MkIII. The CV90 is also in service with the armies in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and Finland and has been deployed with UN and NATO operations abroad.

BAE Systems will upgrade and build CV90 armoured combat vehicles for the Norwegian Army under a contract worth approximately £500 million ($750 million) awarded 21 June 2012 by the Norwegian Government. The company will upgrade Norway’s existing 103-vehicle CV9030 fleet, delivered from the mid-1990s, and build new vehicle chassis to deliver 144 CV90s in different configurations, including a variant equipped with a sensor suite for improved surveillance capability. The project will deliver 74 infantry fighting, 21 reconnaissance, 15 command, 16 engineering, 16 multi-role and two driver training vehicles. The multi-role vehicles can fulfill different functions, including mortar carrier and logistics roles.

Incorporating lessons learned from Norwegian operations in Afghanistan, the new vehicle fleet will have significantly enhanced protection, survivability, situational awareness, intelligence and interoperability. Norwegian industry will play a major role, with Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace responsible for the integrated data and information system, including integration of weapon systems, sensors, communication and security systems. The Kongsberg Protector remote weapon station will be fitted to all variants of the vehicle. The first CV90 was delivered to Sweden in 1993, and this program will increase the number of vehicles ordered to more than 1,200.

Initial CV90 designs were focused towards providing high mobility and high firepower, but more recent designs have focused on high survivability in order to adapt to more recent threats. There have been a number of design upgrades over the years to improve flexibility of the vehicle and increase survivability and other capabilities, the most recent version being the MkIII. The large fleet of vehicles around the globe gives existing and new customers considerable advantages such as a broader base for cost-sharing of future upgrades and spare parts and international interoperability.

Powered by a high torque V8 diesel engine, the CV90 can reach speeds of 70 km/h. The vehicle’s road range is also constantly improving, with new variants capable of travelling up to 900 km. While upgrades to the CV90’s armour have seen the platform’s curb weight rise from 23 to 35 tonnes, power-to-weight ratio has remained approximately the same thanks to stronger diesel engines. The CV90’s track suspension has also been improved. The new track system allows the vehicle to travel effortlessly through both snow and sand, enabling: Quieter movement and improved stealth; Greater speed over rough terrain; and Higher ground clearance for protection against mines and improvised explosive devices. The platform’s semi-active damping reduces the pitch accelerations of the vehicle by approximately 40 percent.

Wherever they are deployed, turreted CV90s provide cutting edge tactical and strategic mobility, anti-armour capability and high survivability.

• CV9030 – The CV9030 features a 30 mm Bushmaster II cannon and an add-on armor kit. The new rubber track system reduces the vehicle’s weight by more than one tonne, as well as cutting noise levels by 10 dB and vibration levels by 65 percent. By replacing the steel tracks with rubber ones, the CV9030s have a longer life expectancy due to the reduced vibration levels benefiting electronics, optronics and ammunition.
• CV9035 – Designed for performance in the toughest terrain, the CV9035 features a 35 mm Bushmaster III cannon and a commander's independent hunter-killer sight. From 2004-2011, BAE Systems delivered an extensive offset package to the Netherlands as part of a contract for 184 CV9035 MkIII vehicles.
• CV9040 – Sweden’s main battle tank features a 40 mm Bofors cannon and a stabilised turret.

The CV90 Armadillo is the latest build standard for the CV90. It takes the family's mobility, protection and payload to a new level. By providing the capability for straightforward, low-cost switching between configurations, the CV90 Armadillo is able to meet today's wide range of threats and rapidly-changing operational environments. The new build standard incorporates a flexible, modular design, providing up to 80 percent commonality between variants. The Armadillo balances high mobility with extremely high protection. Its payload capacity is unique for vehicles in its same weight class. It is reliable and affordable and has a low logistics footprint. Variants include the following:

1. IFV
2. Ambulance
3. Mortar
4. Armored Personnel Carrier
5. Command & Control
6. Logistics
7. Support
8. Recovery

For the Armored Personnel Carrier variant the turret has been removed, providing an enhanced payload capacity of 16 tonnes.

In November 2009 a new version of the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) optimised for the British Army’s Future Rapid Effect System–Scout (FRES–Scout) requirement was completed by BAE Systems Global Combat Systems. The vehicle, built with company funding, carried out initial mobility trials at the Millbrook Proving ground and initial firing trials at Shoeburyness firing range. The modified CV90, which had a combat weight of around 30 tonnes, featured a slightly shorter and lower-profile chassis and a door, rather than a ram, in the rear. The chassis was fitted with a new two-person turret that leverages from the BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Manned Turret Integration Programme 2 (MTIP2). FRES–Scout is the key part of Recce Block 1–the first element of the FRES–SV programme. Bob Ainsworth, the UK Defence Secretary, announced on 22 March 2010 the selection of General Dynamics UK (GD UK) as the preferred bidder for the Demonstration Phase of the FRES SV program, over its rival BAE Systems.

No less than 350 Swedish tanks and combat vehicles are slated for renovation and upgrades; the defense administration has tapped the Swedish defense company H-B Utveckling and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann of Germany to replace obsolete components and install new combat systems. Sweden's Defense Equipment Administration, FMV, decided in March 2016 to sign a contract with the Swedish-based company H-B Utveckling for the renovation and modernization of 262 Stridsfordon-90 [CV90] combat vehicles. It has also with the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, which will renovate and upgrade 88 Stridsvagn-122 tanks, as well as eight towing tanks. The upgrade process will be carried out over the next eight years.

"We will partly replace the components that are at the end of their technical lifespan or have become obsolete, that is, the components that are no longer available on the market. Secondly, we will replace the old command and control system in the tanks," said Peter Elmlund, of FMV's procurement and logistics department. The old TCCS (Tactical Command and Control System) combat system is slated to be replaced with a so-called BMS (Battlefield Management System), which, among other things, facilitates navigation, allowing the operator(s) to keep track of friendly troops. "The upgrade is about maintaining the tanks in battleworthy condition for many years to come," ensures Elmlund.

The Swedish Armed Forces placed an order with FMV in 2016 and thus FMV was able to contract supplier HBUtveckling AB on March 24, 2016. An extension of the Armed Forces order was made in March 2017 forthe need in Battle Group Gotland, which resulted in a corresponding increase in the FMV order against H-B Utveckling AB. The supplier therefore has an order to deliver 100 upgraded trolleys and 188equipment kits to be used to upgrade the corresponding number of vehicles at the Armed Forces' ownworkshops. In addition to this, additional replacement units and spare parts are also procured for three years of peacekeeping.The plan is for the renovated combat vehicles to be introduced with successive deliveries during the period 2019-2023.

CV90120

The CV90120 was developed to meet a specific demand - firepower comparable to an MBT, in a lighter, more mobile vehicle. The vehicle fires all standard NATO 120mm smooth bore ammunition from the battle-proven platform of the CV90. This delivers a level of mobility that provides the crew with the tactical and strategic edge. It also provides forces with a cost-effective route to gaining battle-winning firepower. The CV90120 integrates a modular Defensive Aid Suite, including laser, radar and missile approach warners. This provides outstanding survivability for highly fragmented, multi-spectral battlefields. A number of optional additional measures further increase survivability: Multi-Spectral Aerosol (MSA); Active countermeasure system; and Top-attack radar, identifying intelligent, indirect munitions.