BAE System Signs $750M Contract for CV90 Vehicles

BAE Systems has signed a £500 million ($750 million) deal with Norway to provide new and updated CV90 armored combat vehicles.
The Norwegian government agreed to a deal with the Swedish arm of BAE in April but the finalizing of the contract has had to await the approval of the Parliament in Oslo. That was achieved June 14.
The deal will see the first of 43 new CV90s delivered next year with program completion scheduled for 2018.
The upgrade program on the Norwegian Army’s existing 103-strong fleet of vehicles will incorporate lessons learned from the Norwegians’ Afghanistan deployment. The changes include additional armor protection, new rubber tracks, installation of a remote weapon station and improved C4ISR integration.
Norwegian contractor Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace will lead a team of local companies responsible for the integrated data and information systems employed on the vehicles.
Kongsberg’s Protector remote weapon station will also be fitted to all variants operated by the Norwegian Army.
Once complete, the army lineup will cover 74 infantry fighting, 21 reconnaissance, 15 command, 16 engineering, 16 multirole and two driver training vehicles.
Petter Jansen, the managing director at the Norwegian Defense Logistics Organization, said the deal was one of the largest investments made by the army and a key part of its modernization plan.
As the Norwegian deal is sealed, BAE is ramping up its CV90 sales effort across the border because Nordic neighbor Denmark looks to replace at least part of its M113 fleet with either tracked or wheeled vehicles.
The Danes, who like the Norwegians use the CV90, have issued a request for information for a fleet likely to number around 360 vehicles, although the parameters of the requirement range between 206 and 450 machines.
The final numbers will likely reflect whether all or part of the M113 fleet is replaced.
BAE will focus its offer on the new Armadillo version of the CV90 in a competition likely to attract wide interest from Nexter, General Dynamics, Patria and others across the wheeled and tracked sector.
A win would give BAE’s Swedish operation its first deal for the Armadillo.
John Kelly, vice president of business winning at BAE’s land and armaments operation in the U.S., said during the Eurosatory defense show in Paris last week that the company hadn’t excluded wheeled offerings from its bid.
“They have spread the net wide, and we will be talking about the breath of our tracked and wheeled capability. RFIs are due back on June 25, and with a smaller number of requests for proposals due out July 10, that will give us a better idea of whether Denmark is heading in the wheeled or tracked direction,” Kelly said.
The requirements cover six configurations with an armored personnel carrier being the main focus. Executives in Paris reckoned Denmark wants to have a deal secured by the end of 2013 or early 2014.
Another upcoming opportunity in Europe for the CV90 is Poland, where there is talk of an armored combat vehicle competition getting underway later this year with a request for information.
BAE business development chief Alan Garwood said the company was also ready to re-enter a stalled Canadian requirement for armored vehicles in the CV90 class.
“I am confident we will meet the new Canadian requirement when the competition restarts in August,” he said at Eurosatory.