Armed Forces
First Dutch CV9035 IFVs Delivered to Estonia
Ilustracja: Deep Space Industries
The first batch of the CV9035 IFVs has been just delivered to Estonia, by sea. The vehicles were shipped from the Netherlands and they were received at the Estonian port of Paldiski, where they are going to be handed off directly to the end user – the Estonian 1st Infantry Brigade.
In this way, the Estonian user received 12 basic CV90305 platforms, along with a single engineering vehicle. In total, the contract, the value of which is defined ad EUR 113 million, assumes that 44 Dutch IFVs, along with 4 ARVs would be acquired, with the latter platform based on the Leopard 1 tanks.
All of the procured vehicles are going to be delivered to Estonia by 2018, however, one should note that the subject platforms are a second hand asset. The Dutch are obliged to carry out the relevant technical inspections, prior to shipping, and should a need arise – to carry out relevant repairs.
Acquisition of the aforesaid vehicles from the Netherlands and more procurement deals with Norway (concerning the CV90 IFVs) fit well within the assumptions of the Estonian National Plan of Development of the Army. The implementation of the aforesaid plan has begun back in 2013, and according to the assumptions, the initiative’s goal is to reinforce the Estonian Army until 2022.
According to the commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade, the fact that new combat vehicles are present in the inventory of the unit greatly enhances its combat capacities, which also translates into reinforcement of the national security.