Danish CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicles Get Saab Live Training Systems to Prepare for Drone Threats

Saab has received a SEK 350 million order from the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) for additional live training equipment, the Swedish company announced on November 11, 2026. The package centers on Saab’s Instrumented Laser Duel System (ILDS) for the Royal Danish Army’s CV90 infantry fighting vehicles and adds new non-line-of-sight (NLOS) and drone training capabilities. Deliveries are scheduled between 2026 and 2028.

The order extends the Combat Training Centre (CTC) contract Saab signed with Denmark in June 2025. That earlier deal, valued at SEK 680 million with deliveries running from 2025 to 2027, established four training sites and covered soldier and vehicle training systems, anti-tank and sniper training weapons, communications, and Saab’s Exercise Control (EXCON) software for after-action review. The follow-on arrives as Denmark builds a heavy brigade around a CV90 fleet set to grow from 44 to 159 vehicles, a force that must now train against the threats shaping European land warfare.

What the Saab Live Training Order Brings to Danish CV90 Crews

The core of the order is ILDS for the CV90. Under the 2025 Combat Training Centre contract, Saab’s soldier and vehicle training systems use laser modules on individual weapons and vehicle-mounted systems, giving weapon effects a realistic, simulated impact on maneuvers. Saab’s EXCON software tracks every action during an exercise for after-action review.

Denmark’s instrumented vehicle training with Saab predates the CTC. In December 2021, DALO published a framework agreement with Saab Training Systems for an Instrumented Laser Duel System interoperable with the BT46 system already in Danish service. Saab has not stated whether the new order is a call-off under that framework.

The fleet it supports is being rebuilt. In December 2024, Denmark ordered 115 CV9035 MkIIIC vehicles from BAE Systems Hägglunds, valued at DKK 9.975 billion, with deliveries planned from 2027 to 2030. In November 2025, it ordered 44 more MkIIIC vehicles, valued at about $450 million, to replace its 44 CV9035DK vehicles instead of upgrading them, giving the Royal Danish Army 159 new-build CV90s by the end of 2030. Saab did not disclose how many ILDS kits the new order covers or how they will be fitted across the current and incoming fleets.

Drone and Non-Line-of-Sight Effects Enter Danish Force-on-Force Training

The new element is the addition of NLOS and drone training. Conventional laser duel systems adjudicate direct-fire engagements, in which the shooter must see the target. That leaves a gap: combat in Ukraine has shown armored vehicles exposed to persistent threats from beyond the crew’s line of sight, including first-person-view drones, loitering munitions, artillery, and long-range precision fires.

According to Saab, the expanded capability will let soldiers and units train with drones, long-range precision effects, and new tactics in realistic, instrumented exercises. The company has not detailed how NLOS and drone engagements will be simulated, whether through effects assigned by exercise control, physical training drones, or a combination of both.

“Training must evolve as fast as the battlefield. By bringing capabilities such as drones and long-range precision effects into live exercises, soldiers can train as they will operate and build confidence before facing these situations for real. With this delivery, Denmark continues to develop one of the most modern and flexible Combat Training Centres in Europe,” said Joakim Alhbin, head of Saab’s business unit Training and Simulation.

For CV90 crews, scoring drone and indirect-fire effects inside the same exercise as gunnery would allow units to be assessed on dispersal, concealment, signature management, and reaction to aerial threats, not only on how fast and accurately they engage targets they can see.

Analysis: Instrumentation that only adjudicates direct fire risks training armored crews for a battlefield that no longer exists. By embedding NLOS and drone effects in a CTC that Saab says scales to brigade-level exercises with up to 10,000 participants over an area of 40 by 40 kilometers, Denmark is aligning its training infrastructure with the heavy brigade it is building for NATO. There is also a regional dimension: Saab operates CTCs for the Netherlands, Finland, and Norway, all CV90 users, which gives Nordic and Dutch armored units a common instrumentation base, although no cross-border integration has been announced.

Deliveries run from 2026 to 2028, overlapping with completion of the CTC build-out in 2027 and the first CV9035 MkIIIC deliveries from 2027. Key unknowns remain the number of systems ordered, the method used to adjudicate NLOS and drone effects, and whether the new capabilities will extend to dismounted infantry and counter-drone teams beyond the CV90 fleet. Saab reports training and simulation customers in more than 40 countries.