BAE Systems delivered the first 12 new CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) to the Norwegian Army at a ceremony at the Setermoen Military Camp in North-Norway, the company said on Wednesday.
The 12 CV90s were delivered on schedule as the first production batch of a total 114 upgraded CV90s set to be delivered to Norway.
BAE and the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation signed a contract in June 2012 for the production of 41 new vehicles and upgrades to 103 of the Norwegian Army’s existing CV9030s. Upgrades include enhanced capabilities for protection, survivability, situational awareness, intelligence, and interoperability, BAE said.
The IFV program is part of the Norwegian military’s modernization. The CV90 is a next generation combat vehicle that is a proven and cost-effective solution, BAE said.
“The delivery of these vehicles on schedule and within cost illustrates the highly collaborative, robust relationship between the Norwegian authorities, BAE Systems and its Norwegian industry partners. We look forward to sustaining that relationship as we continue to carry out this contract over many years to come,” Tommy Gustafsson-Rask, president of BAE Systems subsidiary Hägglunds AB, said in a statement.
“We are very proud of giving our soldiers the best IFV in the world. It is thanks to a close and intensive cooperation with BAE Systems Hägglunds and with Norwegian industry for several years that led to this delivery. We received the CV90s exactly on the date we wrote into the contract more than three years ago and that is something that we are very pleased with, Colonel Ragnar Wennevik, the Norwegian Army’s CV90 project leader, said.
“BAE Systems Hägglunds is a good partner and we hope we can continue to develop the relationship during the many years of use for the CV90 fleet,” Wennevik added.
The total 144 IFVs are designed to operate in five configurations: 74 for infantry fighting, 21 for reconnaissance, 15 for command and control, 16 for engineering support, 16 in a multi-role configuration, and two for driver training.
BAE Systems Hägglunds established a partnership with Norwegian industry to develop, produce, and deliver the CV90s.
Gustafsson-Rask highlighted “our industrial cooperation in Norway is extensive and critical, especially when collaboration across industry is a major factor for international success.”
Partner companies include Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Nammo Raufoss AS, CHSnor AS, Moelv, and Ritek AS Levanger, BAE said.
BAE Systems Hägglunds is based in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.