TSAMTO, June 29. According to the Slovak Ministry of Defense, at a meeting held on June 28, the Government of the country approved a proposal for the purchase of 152 CV-9035 Mk tracked armored vehicles.4 with a 35 mm cannon as part of an intergovernmental agreement with Sweden.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal submitted by the Minister of Defense based on the results of the evaluation of the proposed armored vehicles. Following the results of the competition, the Ministry of Defense of Slovakia recommended awarding the first place to the CV-90 Mk BBM.4 with a 35 mm cannon. The second place is taken by the CV-90 Mk.4 with a 30-mm gun, the third – at the BBM KF41 "Links", the fourth – at ASCOD.
A commission consisting of 60 experts from the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces, and the Ministry of Economy of Slovakia participated in the evaluation of the proposals. The proposal of the Ministry of Defense has passed the procedure of interdepartmental discussion. The materials were submitted for evaluation to the Ministry of Finance of Slovakia.
The next stage of the project will be the preparation of an intergovernmental agreement between Slovakia and Sweden and its approval by the parties. The advantages of acquiring a BBM in this format include the reliability of the supply of purchased equipment and the possibility of deeper military cooperation and deepening strategic partnership.
The total estimated cost of acquiring armored vehicles, including estimated infrastructure costs, is about 1.688 billion. euro, including VAT. The main subcontractor of BAE Systems Hagglunds will be the state-owned company ZTS-SPECIBL, and in the long term, other Slovak public and private companies will benefit from the project.
BBM developed by BAE Systems Hagglunds will gradually replace outdated armored vehicles in service with the Slovak Ground Forces. Along with armored vehicles with the 8x8 wheel formula, this purchase will be an important step towards the creation of a Slovak heavy mechanized brigade in accordance with the country's obligations to NATO.
As reported by TSAMTO, in March 2021, the Ministry of Defense of Slovakia announced the beginning of the procedure for selecting replacements for obsolete BVP-1, BVP-2 and BVP-M BMP, BPsV "Svatava" BRM, etc. Previously, the Slovak government allocated 1.7 billion rubles for the purchase of 152 new BMP. euro (about 1.77 billion dollars).
In total, at the first stage, the Slovak Armed Forces intend to purchase 152 armored vehicles, 110 of them in the combat version, 15 control vehicles, 9 reconnaissance vehicles, 3 vehicles for groups with large-caliber sniper rifles (antimaterial rifle), 9 vehicles for groups of grenade launchers, 3 BREM and 3 repair vehicles. At the second stage, 71 vehicles are expected to be purchased, including 5 combat vehicles, 10 BREM, 9 repair vehicles, 9 mine clearance engineering vehicles, 9 mine laying engineers, 9 engineering support vehicles and 20 units of 120 mm self-propelled mortars. Thus, a total of 223 armored vehicles will be purchased.
It is assumed that the delivery of the first combat vehicles for testing will be completed in 2023-2024. In the period 2025-2028, other versions will be received for testing and delivery to the troops.
The new tracked armored combat vehicles should be part of a promising heavy mechanized brigade, which should be formed within the framework of Slovakia's obligations to NATO allies.
The Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic has sent invitations to apply for the supply of a new tracked BBM to 33 countries. The proposals were submitted in January 2022. Four bidders took part in the tender: BAE Systems Hagglunds with CV-90 armored vehicle (CV-9030 Mk.4 and CV-9035 Mk.4 versions), General Dynamics European Land Systems Santa Barbara Sistemas with ASCOD BBM, Rheinmetall with KF41 "Links" BBM and Polish Armaments Group with Borsuk BMP prototype". After a preliminary assessment, the first three BBMs were included in the short list and passed further tests on the basis of the Military Technical Testing Institute of Zagorye (Vojensky technicky skusobny ustav Zahorie - VTSU Zahorie). Then a specially created commission evaluated the submitted proposals and recognized the best BBM CV-9035 Mk.4 from BAE Systems Hagglunds.
