The Swedish CV90120 Is Back After 25 Years: The “Light Tank” Nobody Wanted Finally Gets a Second Chance
This material is based on reporting by Defense Express, Janes, and other open sources.
The story of the Swedish CV90120 is one of the strangest in the modern armored vehicle market. The vehicle first appeared at defense exhibitions in the early 2000s and was frequently described as a “tank of the future.” Yet despite years of attention, it never secured a single real customer. That failure looked especially unusual given the enormous success of the broader CV90 family, which was adopted by multiple NATO countries. Infantry fighting vehicle variants sold well across Europe, but the 120 mm gun version remained little more than a demonstration platform for almost a quarter century.
Now, the CV90120 is unexpectedly returning.
BAE Systems Hägglunds, working together with Slovak defense companies, is preparing a major redesign of the vehicle — one so extensive that it effectively creates an entirely new generation of the platform. The timing is not accidental. Slovakia is increasingly interested in the idea of a “light tank” instead of relying exclusively on traditional heavy main battle tanks.
The CV90120 Arrived Too Early
When the CV90120 was first unveiled, the concept looked radically unconventional.
The Swedes attempted to combine the mobility of the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle with the firepower of a true main battle tank. Engineers mounted a 120 mm smoothbore gun, an autoloader, and a modern fire-control system onto a relatively lightweight tracked chassis.
In many ways, BAE Systems Hägglunds was trying to create a vehicle capable of performing part of the role of a main battle tank, but at lower weight, lower operational cost, and with greater mobility.
Back in the early 2000s, however, NATO armies still focused heavily on either heavy tanks like the Leopard 2 and Abrams or traditional infantry fighting vehicles. A hybrid concept like the CV90120 was often seen as a compromise without a clear battlefield niche.
The vehicle also suffered from bad timing.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan shifted military priorities toward mine resistance, urban survivability, and counterinsurgency operations rather than high-speed armored warfare. Armies either favored heavily protected vehicles or moved toward wheeled platforms.
The CV90120 simply appeared before the world was ready for it.
Ukraine Changed How Armies Think About Armor
The war in Ukraine dramatically altered perceptions of armored warfare.
Modern combat has revealed that heavy tanks are not always the perfect answer. Extreme weight, difficult logistics, high costs, and vulnerability to drones have forced many countries to rethink what armored vehicles should look like in the future.
Suddenly, the old Swedish concept no longer seems outdated.
Slovakia, in particular, has shown interest in the CV90120 as a potentially cheaper alternative to tanks such as the Leopard 2A8 or South Korea’s K2 Black Panther. Slovak officials have openly stated that lighter vehicles may reduce both acquisition and operational costs by as much as 40–50 percent.
For a relatively small military, that matters enormously.
Geography also plays a role. Slovakia’s mountainous and hilly terrain is not ideal for extremely heavy armored platforms. A lighter, highly mobile vehicle with a powerful gun suddenly appears much more attractive than it did twenty years ago.
The New CV90120 Is Far More Dangerous
One of the biggest weaknesses of the original CV90120 was that it remained closer to a technology demonstrator than a fully mature combat system. The new version aims to change that completely.
The upgraded vehicle will feature an entirely redesigned turret armed with the Rheinmetall L44A1 LR — a modernized 120 mm cannon with reduced recoil. The system will also support programmable ammunition and the latest NATO tank rounds.
But perhaps the most interesting feature is the autoloader.
Developed by Slovakia’s Koval Systems, the new mechanism is designed for 16 ready-to-fire rounds and reportedly allows a firing rate of 12–14 rounds per minute — extremely impressive for a vehicle in this class.
In effect, the Swedish-Slovak project is transforming the CV90120 into something between a light tank, a tank destroyer, and a high-mobility direct-fire platform.
The logistical advantages are also important. Slovakia is already acquiring CV90 MkIV infantry fighting vehicles, meaning the country could share training, maintenance, spare parts, and industrial support across both platforms.
But Can a Light Tank Survive the Drone Era?
And that leads to the central question surrounding the CV90120.
Modern battlefields are brutally hostile to lightly protected armored vehicles. FPV drones, loitering munitions, and anti-tank guided missiles are already destroying even heavily armored main battle tanks. The CV90120, despite its firepower, remains significantly lighter and less protected than traditional MBTs.
Its philosophy relies not on maximum armor, but on mobility, speed, and the ability to fire first.
In many ways, this resembles older Cold War concepts that prioritized maneuverability and firepower over raw protection.
That is why the CV90120 has remained controversial for decades. Supporters see vehicles like it as the future of armored warfare — cheaper, faster, more deployable, and still lethal enough to destroy enemy armor. Critics argue that anything lacking the protection of a full-sized main battle tank may simply be too vulnerable for modern combat.
Yet the return of the CV90120 after twenty-five years says something important about where military thinking is heading.
Armies around the world are once again searching for a balance between ultra-heavy, ultra-expensive tanks and lighter, more flexible combat vehicles.
And perhaps the Swedish “failure” that spent decades without a buyer was not a bad idea after all — just a machine designed for a future that arrived later than expected.
