The Slovak company KOVAL SYSTEMS has been awarded a contract from BAE Systems Hägglunds to manufacture the complete turret assembly of the CV90s in the Slovak program.
Moreover, KOVAL SYSTEMS will also produce mechanical components for the turret.
The initial contract between BAE Systems and Slovak MoD was for 152 CV90 IFVs, in a €1.3bn agreement to acquire the CV90 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).
The two companies have agreed to produce around 80 articles at the Belusa facility, with more to follow. KOVAL SYSTEMS will manufacture initial articles for the turret, and initial tests are expected to occur in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, in 2023. The CV90 industrial cooperation program in Slovakia is progressing well, and this contract with KOVAL SYSTEMS is one of several to be signed as the CV90s’ network of local Slovak industry partners are finalized.
Apart from KOVAL SYSTEMS, ZTS-Special has been selected as the complete vehicle assembler on the project, signing an agreement with BAE Systems Hägglunds in December 2022. Other members of the industrial network include Ray Service s.r.o., which will handle the development work and production of electrical components and sub-systems, and Aliter Technologies, whose scope within the command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) domain is being defined with BAE Systems Hägglunds.
“We believe that this program will benefit the Slovak Army and be a success for BAE Systems Hägglunds, KOVAL SYSTEMS, and our entire network of Slovak suppliers. These valuable new strategic partnerships will significantly help the Slovak industry in the long-term,” said Ján Michálek, the Business Director of KOVAL SYSTEMS in Beluša, Slovakia.
BAE Systems’ industrial cooperation program is built on local partners playing a high-value and strategic role in developing, producing, training, and supporting the CV90 and its numerous variants. In Slovakia, this strengthens the industry and increases the security of supply for the Armed Forces. The growing network of industrial partners across Slovakia will ensure that local industry.
Slovakia procured the BAE Systems’ CV90 MkIV infantry fighting vehicle in June 2022 to support the Slovakian Army. The procurement of the CV90s follows Slovakia’s land domain donations in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion. Slovakia donated 30 infantry fighting BVP-1 vehicles.
