In the far north of Europe, they are getting ready for war. At the Hagglunds factory in Ornskoldsvik, in central Sweden, steel plates are being cut, bent and welded into fighting machines. Orders worth billions are flooding in and the workforce has more than tripled.
The factory, owned by Britain’s defence giant BAE Systems, is the hub for making combat vehicles including the CV90, which has been tested in the fire of the Ukraine war against Vladimir Putin’s Russian invaders.
A few miles up the road in Nordanas, The Mail on Sunday is putting one of the 38-ton battlefield bruisers through its paces on a test track.
Here, among the sparse landscape of towering pines and spruces, engineers have carved out concrete paths, with underfloor heating so that they can be used even in the depth of a Scandinavian winter, to test the tanks.
There is even a pool that is used to assess their abilities crossing water.
I clamber up a ladder alongside a gun turret into the sunken drivers’ seat to take the control of a CV90 under the eye of one of the company’s expert drivers acting as ‘commander’ at the top of the vehicle.
Battle tested: Ukrainian soldiers using the CV90 on the front line of the war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia
Rumbling along the main test route, we sweep up a stony bend before barrelling along a tree-lined track to the finish.
Here, grappling with the steering handles in the spring sunshine, it’s impossible not to be taken aback by the awesome power of the machine beneath – a ‘tank killer’ that has been hailed by grateful Ukrainians as a literal lifesaver.
Back at the factory, workers are proud of the role that they are playing in defending against Putin’s aggression.
‘It’s more of a purpose than just being a mechanic if you can do something to help civilians,’ says 32-year-old Julia.
In the factory, a Ukrainian flag given by the country’s soldiers testifies to their gratitude. On it, one has written simply: ‘To our Swedish friends, thankful Ukraine.’
That gratitude extends to the top, expressed personally to Tommy Gustafsson-Rask, managing director of the Hagglunds facility, by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. ‘He came forward, gave me a hug: ‘Your CV90s are saving our soldiers’ lives,’ Gustaffson-Rask says.
Sweden has donated 50 CV90s to the country and has ordered another batch to send there.
In the past they have also seen combat in Afghanistan.
‘As far as I know, no soldier has been killed in a CV90,’ says the factory boss.
‘It has withstood… even direct hits from main battle tanks. It was not designed for that but it has worked. It has got hits from all the things that Russia is throwing at them.’
Speed of manoeuvre also helps. It all seems a far cry from the UK’s disastrous £6 billion Ajax combat vehicle purchase, where – even though vibration issues have made soldiers feel sick, and vomit in testing – ministers are allowing testing to continue, and ploughing ahead with the deal. BAE lost out on that contract but is open to talking to the Government again.
‘If the UK government wants to buy CV90, they can come and talk to us,’ says Gustafsson-Rask. The vehicle has an order backlog of more than 600, with talks also taking place for further deals with Sweden, Norway, Finland, Lithuania and the Netherlands totalling 800 more, which is likely to take deliveries up to 2032.
All told, Hagglunds has won orders for nearly £6 billion worth of vehicles, including the BvS10 armoured vehicle, which is known in Britain as the Viking, and its non-armoured version, the Beowulf.
BAE has invested more than £200 million in the factory over the past five years.
Apart from transforming modern warfare with its use of drones, the conflict in Ukraine has also persuaded traditionally neutral Sweden to join Nato.
In the new battlefields of Europe, BAE Systems’ Swedish-made tanks could have a vital role.
‘You can’t win a drone war,’ says Gustafsson-Rask. ‘You need to control the land.
‘Somebody told me the IAVs [international armoured vehicles] are not relevant any more. For me, that’s wrong.
‘If you are in a standstill position, to win the war you need IAVs and main battle tanks because you need to control the ground and take the ground.’
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