Sweden has a long coastline and numerous offshore islands, consequently the Amphibious Battalion of the Swedish Navy faces a challenging defensive task. Needing to move troops rapidly, they looked for a troop transport system that could meet their needs and this led to the development of the Combat Boat 90 (CB90). The CB90 and its developments such as the CB90 NG have been successful beyond Sweden, being adopted by the Royal Norwegian Navy, Hellenic Coast Guard, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Ukraine (boats donated by Sweden) and the US Navy.
Now Saab has introduced a new CB90 in the form of the Capability X variant (CB90 CX). The CB90CX is already on order for the Swedish Navy, with 10 boats being ordered in 2024, 22 in 2025 and a third order for four boats earlier this year. Larger than previous generation CB90s, the CB90 CX reflects the new complex threat environment that Sweden faces in the Baltic. The CB90 CX could also be extremely interesting for export customers requiring effective combat capabilities in coastal waters.
For the Swedish Navy the CB90 CX is not just a means of providing more platforms, it is about providing what is described as a “distributed” combat capability. This translates into there being three configurations for the CB90 CX, the first of these is an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) variant that mounts a Saab Giraffe 1X radar that has a 100 km range against air targets. Onboard armament is the Trackfire Remote Weapon Station (RWS) mounting a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun or a 30 mm cannon, although other weapon systems can be supported if required.
The next CB90 CX variant is aimed at the anti-ship mission and mounts the MBDA Marte ER missile system, as well as the Trackfire RWS for a self-defence capability. However, Swedish could potentially mount the naval version of its proposed RBS 18 anti-ship missile. The final CB90 CX variant is for short-range air defence and has the Rheinmetall SeaSnake 30 mm KCE gun system and the Hensoldt Spexer 2000 3D MKIII radar system. These three distinct CB90 CX variants are complementary and connected together to provide a highly effective combat capability. According to Saab export customers for the CB90 CX will be able to integrate their own sensor and weapon systems should they so desire.
At the centre of the CB90 CX is the Saab Ocean Core system architecture that links together ship systems, sensors and weapons, this also supports unmanned operations making these units highly capable Maritime Uncrewed Systems (MUS). Another possibility is that AI functionality can be included into the mix allowing further operational flexibility. At the start of its story the CB90 was a rapid transport system for amphibious units, with the CB90 CX it is so much more.
