Fewer vehicles to undergo Dutch CV90 MLU

Dutch State Secretary for Defence Barbara Visser has updated parliament on the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of CV9035NL IFVs in service with the Royal Netherlands Army.

Visser aims to sign a contract with BAE Systems Hägglunds ‘as soon as possible’ and no later than Q1 2021, the Netherlands MoD noted in a 10 November statement.

Once the contract is signed, an initial four vehicles will undergo the MLU. Netherlands-based Van Halteren Metaal will carry out series production for BAE Systems Hägglunds.

An initial batch of upgraded CV9035NLs will be delivered in 2024 with the last to come in 2026.

A total of 122 IFVs (plus six training vehicles) are being modernised to ensure the CV9035NL remains in service until 2039.

This is slightly fewer than the 141 IFVs and eight training vehicles originally planned, Visser said, because ‘the offer was initially higher than the budget’. 

Extra cyber security and other requirements have increased the cost of the upgrade by about €24 million ($28.37 million) to a total of more than €660 million, she added.

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