BAE Systems has signed a follow-on contract worth $90 million with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) for two new CV90 variants, which are being added to the Swedish CV90 RENO upgrade programme. The two new variants will be delivered by BAE Systems’ Swedish joint venture HB Utveckling AB, which brings together BAE Systems Hägglunds and Bofors manufacturing capabilities. The new variants are the Forward Maintenance vehicle, which will provide critical frontline support, repair, and recovery for other vehicles, ensuring improved overall combat vehicle availability; and the Combat Engineer variant, which will significantly grow the ability to ensure route clearance and deny enemy forces mission critical mobility. These two new variants will join the Swedish Army’s mechanised formations with deliveries scheduled between 2023 and 2027.
“Ritek has demonstrated that it has the industrial capability and skills required for such a programme. As our production partner for a similar Norwegian Army programme, it made sense to turn to Ritek when we were looking for the optimal industrial setup for this important FMV contract,” said Peter Sedin, BAE Systems Hägglunds’ director of operations.
“We are proud to be producing these two new CV90 variants for the Swedish Army. The collaborative approach involved in the Swedish CV90 RENO programme has been recognised as a key success factor in achieving a timely, balanced, and cost-effective solution to meet the customer’s capability requirements. We look forward to supporting our Swedish customer in increasing their combat efficiency,” said Tommy Gustafsson-Rask, managing director of BAE Systems Hägglunds.
The two new CV90 variants will be produced at BAE Systems Hägglunds’ facility in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden and by Ritek in Levanger, Norway. Ritek is one of BAE Systems Hägglunds’ key industrial partners in the Norwegian CV90 programme. Ritek’s role in this Swedish programme is a significant milestone, moving Ritek into the international CV90 supply chain. There are approximately 1,300 CV90s in service with Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The vehicle has a combat-proven track record and is designed to accommodate future growth to meet evolving missions. More recently, both Slovakia and the Czech Republic have selected CV90 to replace their legacy infantry fighting vehicle fleets. 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 CV90 MkIV combines improved battlefield speeds and handling with an upgraded electronic architecture to support future growth capabilities as the complex battlefield evolves. The CV90 (Combat Vehicle 90; Stridsfordon 90) is a family of Swedish tracked combat vehicles designed by Sweden’s Defence Materiel Administration (Försvarets Materielverk, FMV), Hägglunds and Bofors during the mid-1980s to early 1990s, entering service in Sweden in the mid-1990s. The Swedish version of the main infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) is fitted with a turret from Bofors that is equipped with a 40 mm Bofors autocannon. Sweden originally planned for a mix of CV9040 and CV9025, tests of the 25 mm turret being carried out on an Ikv 91 chassis, but finally decided on the 40 mm version, due to the much higher versatility of the larger calibre. First use was by the Swedish UN forces in Liberia 2004, where 13 Stridsfordon 9040C were deployed.
