BAE Systems has added additional industrial capabilities to its CV90 programme following the signing of a contract with Norwegian company Ritek AS to assist in the production of two new variants for the Swedish Armed Forces, in cooperation with BAE Systems Hägglunds, the designer and producer of the CV90 family of vehicles.
Ritek is one of BAE Systems Hägglunds’ industrial partners in the Norwegian CV90 programme and this new endeavour grows the company’s role as part of BAE Systems Hägglunds international supply chain, according to a 20 April BAE Systems release.
The two companies worked together on the Norwegian IFV modernisation project (MEP/OPV) to upgrade 144 Norwegian CV90s. The team has just delivered 20 additional CV90 combat support vehicles to the Norwegian Armed Forces.
The announcement of the two new variants was made in November 2022 in a deal worth $90m (Skr900m), as part of Sweden’s CV90 RENO upgrade programme.
The new variants are the forward maintenance vehicle and the combat engineer variant.
The forward maintenance vehicle will provide critical frontline support, repair, and recovery for other vehicles, ensuring improved overall combat vehicle availability, while the combat engineer variant will increase the ability to ensure route clearance and deny enemy forces mission critical mobility.
The two new variants will join the Swedish Army’s mechanised formations with deliveries scheduled between 2023 and 2027.
Europe’s go-to armoured platform
There are approximately 1,300 CV90s in service with Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Recently, a contract was signed with Slovakia for 152 vehicles, and the Czech Republic selected CV90 to replace its legacy infantry fighting vehicle fleet.
The CV90 will now be available in 17 variants and is designed to provide optimum mobility, with the highest level of protection in any terrain or tactical environment. The newest version, the CV90 MkIV, combines improved battlefield speeds and handling with an upgraded electronic architecture to support future growth capabilities.
Versions of the CV90 family include the CV9040 with 40mm gun and the export variant, the CV9030 with 30mm gun. The CV9040 has been in service with the Swedish Army since 1993 with nearly 500 systems delivered and is armed with a 40mm Bofors L/70 cannon. Final deliveries were completed in September 2002.
The sighting systems of several Swedish CV9040 vehicles have been upgraded with an LIRC thermal imaging system from FLIR Systems of Portland, Oregon. LIRC is based on QWIP (quantum well infrared photodetector) technology.
BAE Systems developed several export versions of CV90 for international customers. In July 2010, the company unveiled a new variant of CV90, called Armadillo.
