Combat Vehicle 90 together with Stridsvagn 122 is currently the backbone of the Swedish Armed Forces mechanized battalions. In the defence decision from 2020, the Swedish parliament decided that Combat Vehicle 90 will be gradually replaced with a new combat vehicle after 2030. According to a report from the Swedish Defence Research Agency, technology that is mature 10 years before deployment of a new platform will be used to provide sufficient time for procurement, system integration, commissioning and more. The Swedish Defence Research Agency has also identified that hybrid propulsion of combat vehicles is considered mature and ready to be introduced after 2025.
Based on the above, a concept was constructed for a hybrid driveline for future combat vehicles to answer the question. How do the technical framework conditions of the hybrid series driveline affect the combat vehicles of the future and what will be the consequences on a tactical level?
The concept's driveline was put together with existent technology that can be acquired on the market and was chosen according to performance that was better or similar to Combat Vehicle 90.
After the concept had been designed, two analyzes were performed with different battery weights for the concept. The first analysis had a battery weight of 660kg and the second 3860kg. These two weights were dimensioned according to the total weight of Combat Vehicle 90A and Combat Vehicle 90C.
The result of the analysis is that with a hybrid series driveline, the combat vehicles of the future will have increased performance, the ability to run on battery power and a higher efficiency.
With the results, expected changes in mobility, endurance and protection were discussed. The query led to the conclusions that the combat vehicles of the future can, with a hybrid series driveline, obtain a better technical performance, which increases the mobility. The combat vehicles also have a better efficiency, which means that the combat vehicles have a better endurance and a smaller IR-signature and therefore, an enhanced protection on low light warfare. Finally, the vehicles can also be all-electrically driven, which creates opportunities for the tactical commander to choose one with stealth behaviour with the combat vehicles.