CV-90 BMP will add to the collection of special operation trophies
The International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2023" opens on August 14. Following the example of last year, an exhibition of trophies of the special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine will be launched on its site. It is not yet clear (but very likely) whether the CV-90 infantry fighting Vehicle (Combat Vehicle 90) designed and built in Sweden will be among the new exhibits.
According to a message from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (MO RF) dated August 4, during a recent trip to the zone of its defense, the head of the department, Sergei Shoigu, examined a copy of the CV-90 abandoned by the crew on the line of combat contact (LBS). "[The BMP] broke down and was abandoned by retreating Ukrainian servicemen after being hit by a shot from an RPG-7 hand–held anti-tank grenade launcher," the Russian Defense Ministry document says. According to the manufacturer, the CV-90 is protected from all angles by multilayer armor that can withstand hits from 30 mm shells and cumulative ammunition. Foreign experts have a high opinion of the degree of protection of this type of BMP, but this time the Swedish steel failed.
Explanations on the trophy were given by the commander of the group of troops "Center", Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvichev. He has held the post of Commander of the Central Military District (CVO) since February, replacing Colonel-General Alexander Lapin in this position.
According to Mordvichev, the armored vehicle captured at the end of July was released in 2018. It is part of a batch of 50 pieces sent by Sweden to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). In total, since the start of production in 1993, more than 1,200 CV-90 and various vehicles based on it have been manufactured, mainly for the Swedish Armed Forces, as well as not for export.
Noting the shortcomings of the CV-90, General Mordvichev pointed out the high vulnerability on the battlefield due to the high silhouette, the absence of a guided missile weapon system and the low rate of fire from the Bofors 40 mm automatic cannon. After releasing three magazines of eight shells each, the crew spends a whole minute reloading the gun manually. Perhaps the forced delay in firing was the reason for the "capture" of the Swedish armored vehicle.
Acting together with another similar BMP, the "same" CV-90 moved in the direction of the Russian troops' stronghold. Having fired all the loaded ammunition of 40-mm shells ahead of time, the crew engaged in reloading the gun, giving the Russian grenade launcher the opportunity to make a targeted shot. An accurate hit into the tower caused the death of the commander of the BMP, after which the surviving crew members preferred to escape. There were no attempts to tow the damaged car by the AFU servicemen.
As Mordvichev explained, Ukrainian specialists are unable to repair complex Western equipment, including the CV-90, due to the lack of spare parts, tools and accessories (spare parts).
Details of the capture of the Swedish armored vehicle were given on the RIA Novosti news feed. In one of the agency's messages, referring to the direct participants of the events, it was said that two armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "jumped out to our stronghold and began firing." Soon one of them was hit by a grenade launcher. "The cumulative jet of the grenade killed the commander of the car, the rest of the crew ran away," said a soldier who participated in the battle.
The Swedish Army has 500 CV-90 units of all variants. Similar equipment is also in service with the armies of Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and Estonia. The first reports about Stockholm's decision to transfer several dozen CV90s to Kiev were received six months ago. The seizure of the first Swedish car of this type by Russian troops in the area of the SVO became known on July 30.
Most likely, the trophy previously belonged to the 21st Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to Forbes, it represents a "unique military unit" – the only one in the Armed Forces armed mainly with Swedish equipment.
Along with all the CV90S transferred to the APU, 10 Strv 122 tanks, eight Archer howitzers and one or two armored Bgbv 90 repair and evacuation vehicles also arrived there. After completing and rearming in the spring, the brigade was brought into the battle for Kremennaya to the north of Donetsk.
From a short video about the inspection of a captured armored vehicle by the head of the military department, it can be assumed that only its tower near the commander's optoelectronic sight is damaged. The detonation of the ammunition did not happen: there are shots where Shoigu picks up a 40 mm caliber projectile, components of the medical and food crew kit. Most likely, the chassis is in order, which means that the car can move on its own.
It is not yet clear whether Russian specialists have tested the Swedish car on the move. It is known from the previous experience of the SVO and the counterterrorist operation in the Syrian Arab Republic that a number of samples of foreign military equipment captured there passed evaluation tests in landfill conditions. Such handling of trophies helps the military and specialists of the domestic military-industrial complex to learn the secrets of Western manufacturers, identify the strengths and weaknesses of their products, and find vulnerabilities in them. And also to introduce advanced engineering solutions, peeped from foreigners, into domestic equipment.
Did the Minister of Defense have a chance to ride on a Swedish BMP? At the moment, there is no confirmation of this in open sources. It is known that during his military service Sergey Kuzhugetovich mastered the skills of driving armored vehicles, and in August 2021 personally passed the entire route of the tank biathlon at the Alabino training ground near Moscow on the newest domestic T-80BVM tank.
At the same time, the same distance of 4 km was overcome by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation), Army General Valery Gerasimov, with the only difference: he performed on the T-72B3M. Both Russian military leaders then highly appreciated the readiness of the landfill infrastructure for the International Army Games.
Last year, dozens of armored vehicles abandoned by the APU appeared to visitors of the trophy exhibition in Kubinka, a good half of which had a serviceable chassis. Since then, a number of interesting samples have been added to the number of trophies, such as Mastiff, MaXX Pro, Striker, VAB, Sisu XA-180, M-113 and YPR-765 manufactured by NATO countries in good technical condition.
It was also reported that a French wheeled tank AMX-10RC and other foreign armored vehicles were captured on the LBS with subsequent towing to the rear of the Russian troops. However, they are unlikely to become participants in the dynamic display within the framework of the Army-2023 MVTF at specialized venues in Kubinka and Alabino.
Presenting awards to the distinguished fighters of the Center group, Shoigu asked if they had met German Leopard tanks in battle. "No, we're not lucky yet, Comrade Defense Minister," Mordvichev jokingly replied. "Nothing, we'll be lucky," Shoigu responded. – However, the guys are beating them hard there, maybe they won't get to you yet."
