Norway Weighs Donation of CV90 Armored Vehicles to Ukraine

Norway is considering a donation of CV90 multi-role armored vehicles to Ukraine, according to TV 2. The Ministry of Defence has asked the Defense Staff to examine the possibility of the donation and is evaluating a larger contribution of military equipment.

The Norwegian Minister of Defence, Bjørn Arild Gram, stated that the government is regularly evaluating if it should send more weapons and material to Ukraine and that they have a good dialogue with Ukraine and allies about their needs. The Minister also added that Norway will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary.

The Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90), Swedish: Stridsfordon 90 (Strf 90), is a family of Swedish tracked armored 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 CV90 platform design has continuously evolved from the Mk 0 to current Mk IV with technological advances and changing battlefield requirements.

The CV 9030N (Strf 9030) is an export version of the CV90 family of combat vehicles developed by the BAE Systems and Bofors consortium on behalf of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The country currently has 164 of these IFVs in service.

Specially for the export contract, the combat vehicle was armed with a 30-mm Bushmaster II automatic cannon instead of the standard 40-mm Bofors L/70.

CV 9030N also differs from the Swedish CV 90 by having a more powerful 605 hp engine and an additional hatch on the right side of the vehicle's aft. The 9030N's armor is designed to withstand 30-mm shell hits.

In mid-January, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced that his country would provide Ukraine with 50 CV90s and 12 Archer systems to bolster the country's defense against a Russian invasion.

Source: TV2