Norway to possibly offer CV90 infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled mortars to Ukraine.

As reported by various media, namely Kirill Ryabov on topwar.ru, Norway at the end of January announced its desire to transfer Leopard 2A4NO tanks to Ukraine, and now the possibility of sending CV90 IFVs and self-propelled mortars is being discussed.
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Modernized version of the Norwegian army CV9030 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (Picture source: BAE Systems)

Let us remind that Norway began sending military equipment to Ukraine in the spring of 2022. The country shipped a large number of infantry weapons, as well as M109A3GN self-propelled howitzers and M270 MLRS multiple-launch rocket systems. In addition, the Norwegian government allocated money to participate in the purchase of foreign weapons for subsequent transfer to Ukraine. At the end of January 2023, Norway announced the possibility of transferring 8 Leopard 2A4NO MBTs from its own stock.

On February 1, the Norwegian television channel TV2 announced that the government could transfer a number of CV90 infantry fighting vehicles and CV90RWS Multi BK self-propelled mortars. Should the decision be actually taken, these vehicles will be taken from the army’s combat units.

The possibility of transferring tanks, IFVs and self-propelled mortars is very limited, Kirill Ryabov points, for the Norwegian tank fleet includes only 36 Leopard 2A4NOs in operational condition. And the CV90 fleet includes 91 infantry fighting vehicles, 21 reconnaissance vehicles and at least 16 self-propelled mortars. There are also several dozens of auxiliary vehicles – command, engineering, multi-purpose, etc. So, it is easy to see that the write-off and sending to Ukraine of any number of armored vehicles will have a significant negative impact on the quantitative and qualitative capabilities of the Norwegian army.

The Norwegian army’s CV9030N infantry fighting vehicle is an export version of the basic Swedish product Strf 90 with some differences and features but still operated by a crew of 3 people and designed to carry 7-8 soldiers.

Self-propelled mortar CV90RWS Multi BK is made on the IFV chassis. Inside the hull is a VingPos mortar system with an L16A2 muzzle-loading 81mm mortar. The mortar barrel is mounted on a remote-controlled module. The ammunition stock amounts to 50 rounds. The 81mm L16A2 mortar is loaded manually and allows a rate of fire of up to 10-12 rds/min. When firing standard high-explosive fragmentation mines weighing up to 4-4.2 kg, a range of up to 4.8 km is possible. The smoke mine is sent to 5.7 km. An automated control system allows for improving the accuracy of shooting.

CV90RWS Multi BK self-propelled mortar system (Picture source: Norwegian MoD)

Loading a 81mm round in a CV90RWS Multi BK self-propelled mortar system (Picture source: Norwegian MoD)