27/05/2022-By Paolo Valpolini
On May 26 the Slovak Ministry of Defence issued a document entitled “Feasibility Study for the Procurement of Tracked Combat Armoured Vehicles and Tracked Combat Vehicles” which draws the conclusions of the lengthy testing process that saw the competing vehicles performing in the country. The document, in Slovak language, lacks some of the information that was considered classified, but gives a general overview of the results obtained during field trials.
The five main evaluation points were interoperability, mobility, firepower, mine resistance and ballistic resistance. Combat (PBOV in Slovak acronym) and support (POB) vehicles will replace in Slovak service BVP-1 and BVP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, BPsV Svatava combat reconnaissance vehicles, OT-90 armoured personnel carriers, SVO self-propelled mine-clearing vehicle and MU-90 mine-laying vehicle, all currently deployed by mechanized formations.
Four competitors took part in the bid,
1. BAE Systems Hägglunds-CV90 (both CV9030 Mk IV and CV9035 Mk IV),
2. General Dynamics European Land Systems Santa Bárbara Sistemas-ASCOD,
3. Rheinmetall Lynx KF41.
4. Polish Armaments Group – PGZ Borsuk.
The total Phase 1 requirement is for 152 vehicles of which 110 in the combat version, 15 command posts, 9 reconnaissance, 3 anti-material rifles team, 9 grenade launcher team, 3 recovery and 3 maintenance and repair. As for Phase 2, this should include 5 combat, 10 recovery, 9 maintenance and repair, 9 engineer mine-clearing, 9 engineer mine-laying, 9 engineer support and 20 120 mm self-propelled mortars, for a total of 71 vehicles, the grand total thus being 223.
The programme timing sees the delivery of the first combat vehicles in 2023-24 for first trials, followed in the 2025-28 period by the delivery of the other versions for testing and delivery to the units. This according to the released document the preferred bidder is BAE Systems Hägglunds CV90, the offer being supported by the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV). This recommendation is now passed over to the Slovak Government, which decision is expected in June, which will then lead to final negotiations before the contract signature.
In the following lines a summary of the most interesting parts of the Slovak MoD document.
The evaluation took into consideration four main areas, technical, logistical, financial and the involvement of Slovak industry, the assessment being given in percent over target requirements.
For the technical evaluation mobility, maneuverability, firepower, protection and training assets were the main criteria. None of the vehicles fulfilled completely the requirements; the result table of the technical evaluation published in the document shows the following:
Vehicle
Rating
CV90 MkIV : 292
Lynx KF41: 257
ASCOD: 279
Borsuk: 30
First came the CV90, although it didn’t meet two requirements, maximum cannon elevation and vertical obstacle crossing. The fact that the Mk IV is based on the wide experience acquired on previous CV90 versions, its combat experience, and the wide community that forms its Users’ Club was of course considered as a plus.
Comments on the Lynx positively underline the modularity aspect and the considerable internal space, while on the minus side we find overall dimensions and the fact that the vehicle is not in use in the country of origin, although Rheinmetall was presenting its tracked vehicle through Rheinmetall Hungary Zrt, Hungary being the launch customer for the Lynx KF41
For a full information and comments
https://www.edrmagazine.eu/the-slovak-mod-selects-the-cv90-as-preferred-bidder-for-its-ifv-programme