Thread by @noclador

A thread about the best infantry fighting vehicle: the Swedish CV90.

Nine European countries (🇸🇪🇳🇴🇩🇰🇫🇮🇳🇱🇪🇪🇨🇭🇨🇿🇸🇰) have bought the CV90 and others are now eyeing it as their future IFV (🇺🇸🇬🇧🇫🇷🇮🇹).
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The reason NATO's big four military powers are eyeing/assessing/trialing the CV90 is that it is a mature design with every imaginable variant already existing.
The CV90 isn't the best armored IFV - the best armored is the German KF41 Lynx in this photo. And the CV90 isn't
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the cheapest IFV - that would be the South Korean Redback in this photo.
The CV90 is, due to its many users, the most versatile armored vehicle in production now. Similar to the Leopard 2 tank and the F-16 fighter many users means that there is constant development and
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improvement of the base system, with new and better variants entering service with one of the users every few years.
Let's have a look at some of the CV90 variants, prototypes, and many turret variants. The basic vehicle is the Swedish CV9040, which was introduced in 1994.
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Sweden improved its basic model three times (Versions A, B, C) and is currently upgrading 262 of its A, B, C versions to the D1/D2 and E standard.

The photo shows a D1 (former A) that just came off the production line. This Swedish upgrade isn't changing the armor or gun, or
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the tracks or gun stabilization; this upgrade is about bringing the electronics and optics up to the CV90 Mk IV standard, which is the fourth generation of the non-Swedish CV90s.

Yes, there were two parallel development streams for the CV90 - the Swedish one and the export
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one. The British Warrior never had an upgrade, the Italian Dardo never had an upgrade, while the CV90 was improved every few years either by Sweden or @BAESHagglunds for an export customer:
• CV90 🇸🇪
• CV90 Mk I 🇳🇴
• CV90 Mk II 🇫🇮🇨🇭
• CV90 Mk III 🇩🇰🇳🇱🇪🇪
• CV90 Mk IV 🇨🇿🇸🇰
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Every time a country showed interest in the CV90 an improved variant was developed. As each new variant was based on a model already in service the development was less risky and could be done much faster than a complete new development.
This meant that no customer had to
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wait for years while trials and testing had to be undertaken, and yet all customers received CV90 that worked as promised from the start.

And not only that customers can get every imaginable type of CV90 based armored vehicle. By my last count at least 17 different types of
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CV90 armored vehicles besides the many IFV variants exist.

I.e. do you want a light tank with a 105mm cannon? or with a 120mm canon? with manned turret? or an unmanned turret? All of these already exist as prototypes.
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If you want a CV90 based armored recovery vehicle to tow damaged CV90 IFVs off the battlefield you can get the Swedish Bärgningsbandvagn 90 (Bgbv 90), which has been upgraded to D standard, or the brand new Driftstödspansarbandvagn 90D (Spbv 90D) based on the CV90 Mk IV.
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Need a V90 based Command Vehicle?
Well, you're in luck and can choose between a Swedish D version with a fake gun, a MK III Dutch version with a gun, and a brand new MK IIIb Norwegian version.

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CV90 based Forward Artillery Observer? Of course you can have that. Self-propelled Anti-aircraft Gun (SPAAG) with a radar - of course there is a version you can order.

But you don't need a dedicated SPAAG - if your CV90 is armed with a 35mm Bushmaster III or 40mm Bofors
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w/70Bc autocannon, you can use airburst ammo to shoot down drones and helicopters.

Airburst ammo is also excellent to clean infantry in trenches (AFAIK Ukraine will get CV90 with this capability). Speaking of guns - no IFV has a powerful cannon as the Swedish CV90.
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The Swedish w/70Bb or w/70B guns with their 40mm APFSDS rounds can penetrate all russian armored vehicles except the frontal armor of upgraded tanks... but even a T-80 is vulnerable if a Swedish CV90 can get fire at it from the side.
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And the CV90 will not have any problems with mud or snow - Sweden designed it specifically for used during the Scandinavian winter, which is even colder than winters in Ukraine. And with Mk IV you get a more powerful engine and Composite Rubber Tracks, which means the CV90
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is now even more agile.
Speaking of Mk IV: if 40mm is too small, now you can have a 50mm autocannon that will pierce russian tanks even on the front and shoot down drones up to 3 km in the air.
If you want anti-tank guided missiles - you can have Spike LR or Akeron MP.
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You need a CV90 Armored Engineer Vehicle? Of course there is one based on Mk IIIb and one based on Mk IV. Reconnaissance variant with extendable sensor mast?
Norway just received such a vehicle. And also a 81mm mortar carrier. Speaking of mortar carriers -
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you can have that as classic mortar carrier with open roof and manual operation, or in a manual dual mortar turret version (Granatkastarpansarbandvagn 90), or as a dual mortar semi-automatic AMOS version, or with the semi-automatic NEMO mortar.
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All these existing variants and versions, and the proven flexibility of the CV90 design make the CV90 the best IFV on the market.

Only version that I miss are self-propelled 155mm artillery and armored ambulance, but for the later
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there is a actually a variant ready to go, if a country should want it: That variant could also serve as Armored personnel carrier, or electronic warfare vehicle, or armored bridge layer.
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Naturally the Mk IV comes with an integrated active protection system (Elbit's Iron Fist) and the newest optics, electronics, and networking capabilities.

All this, and the now almost 30 years of user experience make the CV90 the best IFV a nation can buy.
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As said earlier the KF41 Lynx is even better armored than the CV90 Mk IV, but it exists only as IFV.
Tracked Boxer might even be more flexible than the CV90 Mk IV... but tracked Boxer only exists as prototype and Powerpoints.
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So if your army needs a renewal of its tracked armored fleet - you can risk a new development and end up with a costly, unworkable disaster that threatens your army's existence as a credible fighting force (Ajax).
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Or you get the best of all the IFVs currently in production: the CV90 Mk IV, which comes with all the variants you ever dreamed off.
It's just the best there is.

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