Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď: Slovak-Swedish cooperation will become still more intense as Slovakia acquires CV90 infantry fighting vehicles

Today (14 December) Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď hosted Pål Jonson, the new Minister for Defence of the Kingdom of Sweden, at the Ministry of Defence in Bratislava for talks making Russia's invasion of Ukraine, SVK-SWE armaments cooperation, and Sweden's accession process to NATO the central themes of their meeting.

At the talks with his Swedish counterpart, Defence Minister Naď appreciated Sweden for getting involved in the much-needed modernisation of the Slovak Armed Forces. Meeting in Stockholm earlier this week on Monday (12 December 2022), representatives of the SVK and SWE MODs signed the government-to-government (G2G) agreement for the delivery of 152 BAE Systems CV9035 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and the associated Contracts. The deal opens up new opportunities for still deeper and more intense cooperation.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: "These tracked IFVs are a fundamental prerequisite for Slovakia to be able to achieve its goal of standing up its Heavy Mechanised Brigade, which the previous governments declared under our NATO Capability Targets. So, we have taken a decisive step towards that. I am very much pleased that these state-of-the-art vehicles will enter operational service with the Slovak Armed Forces and that cooperation between our countries will grow and become still more intense.”

Appreciating the quality of SVK-SWE defence cooperation and intense dialogue, Minister for Defence of the Kingdom of Sweden Pål Jonson said: “We had some interesting discussion on current topics relating to our security, cooperation and support. I do appreciate the Slovak support for Swedenʼs entry into NATO and I also want to thank Slovakia for supporting Ukraine – this is important for us as much as for all Europeans.”

Minister for Defence Jonson went on to praise Slovakia for its decision to buy CV9035s for the Slovak Armed Forces. This combat-proven platform has seen its service in several theatres of operation, including in Afghanistan. Minister Jonson also thanked for the transparency and efficiency of the whole procurement process.

Slovakia's purchase under the G2G agreement of 152 CV9035s, also known as CV90 MkVIs, armed with a 35mm cannon, was approved by the SVK Government at the end of June 2022.

The total costs of the purchase, including the tracked platforms and infrastructure, are estimated at €1.688bn VAT included. The delivery of the first batch of the CV9035 IFVs is scheduled for 2026, whereas they will gradually replace the half-a-century-old IFVs in service with the Slovak Army.