Sweden to upgrade Leopard 2 and CV90

IHS Jane’s is reporting that the Swedish Army  has ordered upgrades to 350 of its Leopard 2 main battle tanks and CV90 infantry fighting vehicles.  According to Jane’s the cost of the upgrade work is worth nearly USD300 million.  Under the work both vehicles will have their existing Tactical Command and Control System (TCCS) replaced with a new Battlefield Management System (BMS).

Under the first contract, worth EUR92 million (USD105 million), Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) will provide renovation and refurbishment kits for 88 of the Swedish Army’s Stridsvagn 122 MBTs (analogous to the Leopard 2A5) and 8 Bärgningsbandvagn 120 (Bergepanzer BPz3 Büffel) armoured recovery vehicles. Besides the addition of the BMS, work will be undertaken to replace obsolescent parts.

After the upgrade, due to be completed in 2023, the 77 Stridsvagn (Strv) 122A MBTs being modified will be designated Strv C, with 11 upgraded Strv B MBTs being renamed Strv D.

The second contract, worth SEK1.55 billion (USD190 million), will see BAE Systems conduct work to upgrade 262 CV90 IFVs between 2018 and 2020. Alongside replacing the TCCS with the new BMS, this work is to include the replacement of the CV90’s existing Ksp m/39 (M1919A4) coaxial machine guns with the Ksp m/59 (FN MAG) and refurbishing their chassis.

All five of the Swedish Army’s CV90 variants will go through the upgrade, namely: 172 Strf 9040 IFVs, 40 Stripbv 90 command vehicles, 22 Epbv 90 forward observation vehicles, 16 Lvkv 90 air defence vehicles, and 12 Bgbv 90 armoured recovery vehicles.

Besides the generic upgrades across all the variants, the Epbv 90 and Lvkv 90 variants will have their thermal imagers replaced by the same one used by the Strf 9040C IFV. The Strf 9040s will also receive a software update to their fire control systems.