Combat Vehicle 90 - Combat Service

Combat Service

With production having begun in 1993, the CV90 had remained untested in live combat until November 2007, when Norwegian Army CV90s from 2nd Battalion saw heavy combat during Operation Harekate Yolo in Afghanistan. During the first week of November, Norwegian ISAF forces from 2nd Battalion and Kystjegerkommandoen based in Mazar-e-Sharif, responded to a Taliban attack on Afghan National Army forces in the Ghowrmach district. Having been heavily outnumbered by the Taliban forces, the Norwegians used mortars and, in particular, CV90s, to effectively beat down the attack. The operation left an unknown number of Taliban casualties, but Norwegian news sources say as many as 45 to 65 Taliban fighters may have been killed, and many more wounded.

The CV90 was later used extensively by ISAF-forces of the Norwegian Army's Telemark Battalion in May 2008, when the battalion, during Operation Karez in the Badghis Province, came under heavy machine gun and RPG fire from Taliban fighters. The attack left 13 Taliban fighters dead, and unknown number of wounded. No allied casualties were reported. In January 2010, a Norwegian soldier driving a CV9030 was killed when it drove over an IED in Ghowrmach, Afghanistan.

Swedish CV90s have also seen service in Liberia. As of the spring of 2011, Sweden operates 9 CV9040s in Afghanistan. Swedish CV90s have seen combat with insurgents on a dozens occasions.

In February 2010 Denmark sent 10 CV9035DK's to Afghanistan in order to bolster their contingent in Helmand Province. The Danish contingent has suffered numerous casualties since they began operations in the province in the autumn of 2006. The vehicles are from the Danish Royal Lifeguard Regiment, based in the Northern part of Seeland. They are working alongside with MOWAG Piranha IIIC, MOWAG Eagle IV, M113 G3DK and Leopard 2A5DK, all contributed by Denmark, in the Helmand Province. By April 2010 two of the ten vehicles have been hit with IEDs, in both cases protecting the crew and passengers of personal injury. The vehicles lost two wheels and tracks, and were sent back to the manufacturer in Sweden for further investigation. On 7 August 2010, a CV9035DK hit an IED in Afghanistan, killing two soldiers and wounding another three. The explosion was so powerful the vehicle was turned over.