On May 24, 2023, the Czech Ministry of National Defense signed a contract with the Swedish Defense Procurement Agency for the purchase on an intergovernmental basis for the Czech Army of 246 CV90 Mk IV infantry fighting vehicles and vehicles based on them produced by the Swedish branch of BAE Systems Corporation (BAE Systems AB / Land Systems Hägglunds AB). The contract value is 59.7 billion CZK with VAT ($2.71 billion), or 49.3 billion CZK without VAT ($2.24 billion). The start of deliveries of infantry fighting vehicles to the Czech army is scheduled for 2026.
Prototype of the BAE Systems Hägglunds CV90 Mk IV infantry fighting vehicle with a new D-type turret in the D30 version with a 30 mm Bushmaster II Mk 44S cannon in the configuration for the Czech Land Forces (c) Czech Ministry of National DefenseIn fact, two documents were signed: a bilateral contract between the Czech Ministry of National Defense and the Swedish FMV department, which regulates aspects of civil and military cooperation in relation to purchased infantry fighting vehicles and ensures long-term cooperation between the Czech Republic and Sweden; as well as a trilateral agreement between the Czech Ministry of Defense, FMV and BAE Systems AB / Land Systems Hägglunds AB As a manufacturer of infantry fighting vehicles, the subject of this agreement is the very purchase of CV90 Mk IV vehicles by the Czech Republic.
Within the framework of the agreements, the Swedish side took an agreement on the participation of Czech industry in the CV90 Mk IV BMP production and supply program in the amount of at least 40%. Even before signing the contract with the Czech government, BAE Systems Hägglunds signed contracts with five major Czech subcontractors - the state-owned company VOP CZ, VR Group (owned by the state-owned company LOM PRAHA) and private companies Excalibur Army, Meopta and Ray Service. It is reported that a total of about 30 Czech companies should be involved. It is stated that the chassis assembly and final integration of the vehicles will be carried out at the VOP CZ enterprise (the former VOP-25 armored repair plant in Shenov-u-Nowe-Yichin).
Recall that the Czech Ministry of Defense in 2014 began a project to purchase a promising BMP to replace the Czech army's existing fleet of licensed BMP-1 and BMP-2. In total, it was initially planned to purchase 210 (with an option of 36) infantry fighting vehicles and vehicles based on them in seven variants to fully equip them by the end of 2026 of the 7th mechanized Brigade of the Czech Army.
In December 2018, four final competitive samples were determined in the Czech tender: a new modification of the CV90 BMP, designated Mk IV, presented by the Swedish branch of BAE Systems Corporation (BAE Systems AB / Land Systems Hägglunds AB), presented by the German Rheinmetall group KF41 Lynx BMP, presented by the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) The Puma BMP and the BMP presented by the European branch of General Dynamics Corporation (General Dynamics European Land Systems) on the ASCOD 2 platform. The Rome machine was soon withdrawn from the competition due to the presence of a completely uninhabited (and not inhabited or optionally inhabited) tower.
The Czech tender for the BMP was constantly delayed for various reasons, and only in May-June 2021, comparative tests of the three remaining competing samples - CV90 Mk IV, KF41 Lynx and ASCOD 2 - were conducted in the Czech Republic at the Olomouc test site. However, following the results of the tests, the Czech side put forward additional requirements, which two of the three applicants, Rheinmetall and General Dynamics, refused to accept. As a result, in July 2022, the Czech government decided to cancel the tender and authorized the Czech Minister of Defense, Jan Chernokhova, to begin negotiations with the Swedish government on the acquisition of BAE Systems Hägglunds CV90 Mk IV infantry fighting vehicles with a new D-type turret, executed under the symbol CV90CZ, on a non-competitive and intergovernmental basis. At the same time, the Czech side refused to allocate the option and decided to purchase all 246 BMP at once.
Czech sources admit that this decision was also influenced by the choice of the BAE Systems CV90 Mk IV BMP made in May 2022 by the Slovak Ministry of Defense in a similar Slovak tender. Czech Defense Minister Yana Chernokhova stated that the purchase of the CV90 BMP by the Czech Republic "will be coordinated with Slovakia." On December 12, 2022, Slovakia and Sweden signed an intergovernmental agreement on the acquisition of 152 CV9035 Mk IV infantry fighting vehicles for the Slovak armed forces. The Ministry of Defense of Slovakia plans to purchase a total of 223 modern infantry fighting vehicles and vehicles based on them in nine variants.
Slovakia and the Czech Republic thus became the starting customers of the CV90 BMP in the Mk IV variant. This modification of the CV90 BMP was presented to BAE Systems in September 2017. The CV90 Mk IV is equipped with a new 1000 horsepower Scania DP16I diesel engine and an upgraded Perkins X300 transmission (according to some reports, the Allison 3040MX transmission will be installed in the Czech Republic version), the total combat weight of the vehicle has been increased from 35 tons to 37 tons. The equipment of the machine is made in accordance with the latest standard of the NATO NGVA electronic architecture, the basis of the equipment complex is the new information and control system iFighting developed by BAE Systems.
The CV90 Mk IV BMP can be offered with various turrets and combat modules, and in Czech and Slovak tenders it was presented with a new habitable BAE Systems Hägglunds type D turret with a new fire control system, and for Slovakia - in two versions of the vehicle: CV9030 Mk IV (with a 30 mm Bushmaster II Mk 44S cannon) and CV9035 Mk IV (with 35 mm Bushmaster cannon). Slovakia chose a variant with a turret of the D35 variant with a 35 mm Bushmaster automatic cannon, and the Czech Republic chose a variant with a turret of the D30 variant with a 30 mm automatic cannon. The Type D turret on the IFVs of both countries will also be equipped with Rafael Spike-LR ATGM launchers and the Elbit Systems Iron Fist active protection complex. The Type D turret is also installed on the upgraded CV9035NL Mk III infantry fighting vehicles of the Netherlands Army.
