Netherlands to Be Equipped With CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicles for High-Intensity Conflict.

The Netherlands has confirmed plans to rapidly procure additional CV90 infantry fighting vehicles through a multinational Nordic framework, with Sweden leading negotiations with BAE Systems Hägglunds. The move reflects a broader Dutch and NATO reassessment of land warfare after Ukraine, prioritizing tracked armored infantry that can hold terrain in high-intensity conflict.

According to the Dutch Ministry of Defence on 19 December 2025, The Hague will join the Nordic Initiative to acquire additional CV90 infantry fighting vehicles under a European pooled procurement structure. While the Netherlands has set an investment envelope of roughly €1 to €2.5 billion, officials are withholding vehicle numbers, delivery schedules, and final pricing for operational and commercial reasons, a sign of both urgency and sensitivity as European armies race to rebuild heavy land forces. The ministry’s accompanying letter to parliament frames the decision in stark terms, citing lessons from Ukraine, updated NATO capability targets, and the renewed reality that ground forces still determine outcomes when airpower and long-range fires cannot physically control terrain. The purchase is intended to stand up a full armored infantry battalion for 13 Lichte Brigade, based at Nassau Dietz Kazerne in Budel, with a planned strength of roughly 790 personnel supported by organic combat and logistics elements.
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CV90 delivers tracked mobility, a stabilized 35 mm cannon with airburst, modern day/night sensors, and protected transport for a full infantry squad (Picture source: BAE Systems). 

The procurement sits inside a wider Dutch reset shaped by Ukraine, NATO planning targets, and the uncomfortable rediscovery that land forces still decide outcomes when airpower and long-range fires cannot physically control terrain. In the accompanying A/B letter to parliament, the Ministry links the project to preparing for a potential large-scale conflict on the European continent and to filling a priority NATO requirement by creating a full armored infantry battalion, supported by combat support and logistics elements. That new battalion is to be assigned to 13 Lichte Brigade, with Nassau Dietz Kazerne in Budel as its home base, and the unit structure is planned around roughly 790 positions.

The current CV9035NL fields the Bushmaster III 35 mm autocannon with growth potential to 50 mm, backed by a coaxial 7.62 mm FN MAG and smoke and fragmentation launchers. The Dutch Ministry of Defence lists an empty weight of 31,750 kg, an 810 hp powerpack, a road speed of around 70 km/h, and a troop capacity of seven fully equipped infantry in addition to a three-person crew. Importantly for the close fight, the gun can use airburst ammunition and high elevation angles for engaging helicopters and urban targets, while the vehicle’s sensor and fire control architecture emphasizes stabilized day-night sights, shared imagery across crew stations, laser warning, and a modern battle management backbone.

The new vehicles are described as CV90 IGV Nordic Edition, a military off-the-shelf configuration that largely mirrors the Netherlands’ own midlife updated CV90 standard, combining an improved chassis with the further developed turret configuration already being introduced through the Dutch MLU program. That MLU is substantial: the Ministry states 128 vehicles are being modernized to remain relevant through 2039, with 90 receiving an active protection system designed to detect and disrupt incoming threats, plus integration of Spike anti tank guided missiles, new observation systems for commander and gunner, thermal vision for the driver, upgraded IT infrastructure, and lighter rubber tracks to offset added mass.

Operationally, the added CV90 battalion changes what the 13 Lichte Brigade can credibly do on day one of a NATO crisis. Today, the brigade is optimized around wheeled protected mobility, with Boxer, Bushmaster, Fennek, and other support vehicles, prized for fast road marches and flexibility in dispersed missions. A tracked CV90 formation brings a different kind of violence and survivability: it is built to close with a peer adversary through mud, forests, and shell craters, deliver dismounts under armor, and then stay in the fight with organic direct fire, thermal sights, and an APS tailored for the modern anti-armor environment. The Dutch letter also underlines that unmanned systems will be purchased alongside the CV90 capability to strengthen anti-tank and ISR functions while reducing risk to personnel, signaling that the new battalion is being designed for drone-saturated reconnaissance and target handoff, not just traditional mechanized assaults.

The order also fits the Netherlands’ broader integrated deterrence posture with Germany. The Dutch Army has already embedded heavy capability by integrating 43 Gemechaniseerde Brigade into Germany’s 1st Panzer Division, where Leopard 2 and CV90 form the brigade’s backbone. In parallel, 13 Lichte Brigade has been tied into Germany’s 10th Panzer Division since 2023, and the reintroduction of tracked infantry power in that brigade reduces the gap between Dutch medium forces and the armored formations they would fight alongside on NATO’s eastern flank. The Ministry explicitly highlights interoperability, shared sustainment, and faster delivery through pooled European demand, with Sweden acting as lead nation under a framework arrangement with BAE Systems Hägglunds.

Against what the Dutch already field, the CV90 complements rather than replaces Boxer. Boxer offers strategic mobility, mission module flexibility, and a large protected volume, but tracked CV90s provide superior cross-country traction and a turreted direct fire system purpose-built for supporting dismounts at close range. Against Western competitors, the CV90 sits in a pragmatic sweet spot: it is generally less heavy and complex than Germany’s Puma, more mature and widely fielded than newer concepts like Rheinmetall’s Lynx, and more combat-oriented for mechanized shock than wheeled IFVs such as VBCI. Its credibility is reinforced by scale and operational history, with industry citing roughly 1,900 CV90s ordered across multiple variants and deployments that include combat experience.