CV90, the Nordic vehicle that can make a difference in the harsh Ukrainian winter

@DefAviation ES 11·27·2023 · 23:19 0

Although we are still in autumn, heavy snowfall has already arrived in Ukraine and that country already shows landscapes that are purely winter.

The rare prototype of the Spanish BMR armored vehicle that appeared in Ukraine
The modifications that the Ukrainian Army is applying to its Leopard 2A4 tanks

It is already the third winter of the Russian invasion (remember that it began during this cold season on February 24), and as happened during the Second World War, making war in Ukraine is not not easy in these conditions. Because of the snow, the roads are filled with mud and this makes it difficult for military vehicles to advance.

Although in the Russian invasion of Ukraine much attention has been paid to the modern battle tanks provided by Western countries (Leopard 2, Abrams and Challenger 2), infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) also have a very important role in operations, especially considering that they are armored vehicles designed to participate in front-line actions and the toughest combats. This winter, Ukraine has an advantage in that segment: one of the best IFVs on the market.

The CV90 is a jewel of the excellent Swedish arms industry. Its development began in the 1980s and the first vehicles of this type entered service in 1993 in the Swedish Army. This IFV has been a commercial success, with more than 1,400 units manufactured and already in service in 8 countries (Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland and Ukraine) and two other countries that are waiting to receive them (Czech Republic and Slovakia).

It is no coincidence that this vehicle has been chosen as the IFV of the armies of most of the countries with the harshest winters in Europe: the CV90 was specifically designed to withstand the harsh climate of the Nordic countries, and has excellent mobility both in snowy environments and on wet and muddy terrain.

Furthermore, the CV90 has been evolving and expanding its capabilities over time, incorporating continuous improvements and developing different variants for all types of uses: its basic function of infantry, command, recovery, artillery observation , reconnaissance, electronic warfare, engineering, etc. Today it is one of the most versatile combat vehicles in Europe, a characteristic to which much of its success can be attributed.

Sweden donated 50 CV9040C to Ukraine in June 2023. This model is the most advanced variant of the original version of the infantry vehicle operated by Sweden, to which it adds reinforced armor. It can carry six or seven equipped soldiers and is equipped with a 40 mm Bofors automatic cannon, a 7.62 mm Ksp 58 machine gun and six smoke grenade launchers, as passive defense. Its weight is 27.6 tons and it can reach a speed of 70 km/h, with a range of 900 km on the road.

As additional information, the CV9040C delivered to Ukraine are equipped with the Barracuda camouflage system, developed by the Swedish company Saab. In addition to the usual visual function of combat vehicle camouflages, the Barracuda reduces the infrared signature of the vehicle, making it more difficult to detect by the enemy's thermal scopes. You can see it in these photos published last Friday by the 93rd Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Army.

At the moment, the CV90 has already gone into action in Ukraine. At the moment, of the 50 vehicles delivered by Sweden, only three were damaged and only one has been captured, but the most notable thing is that the Ukrainian Army has not had a single human casualty with this vehicle so far, something that the IFV used by the Russian army cannot even remotely boast of.

Ukraine seems to be very satisfied with the CV90, to the point that in September the Ukrainian government announced its intention to acquire 1,000 VCIs of this type. "The CV90 infantry fighting vehicle is called to be the best combat vehicle in the world," said Hanna Maliar, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine.

You can see here a video from BAE Systems Hägglunds Örnsköldsvik that shows some of the variants of the CV90: