A larger platform designed to operate without a crew
Swedish defense manufacturer Saab has introduced the CB90 CX, a combat boat designed to strike targets beyond the horizon and counter short-range aerial threats. The uncrewed vessel is intended for the Swedish Navy.
The craft was unveiled Sunday morning ahead of the Euronaval defense exhibition, taking place in Paris this week. Unlike the CB90 Next Generation (CB90 NG), which can be upgraded for optional crewed operations, the CB90 CX was designed from the outset to operate without personnel on board.
At 18 meters long, the new platform is larger than the 16.3-meter CB90 NG, which is in service with nine navies. Saab says the expanded hull provides more than 50 percent additional payload capacity.
Three configurations for different missions
The CB90 CX is planned in three configurations. The first is designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and will use Saab’s Giraffe 1X radar. A second configuration will focus on anti-surface warfare, including attacks on vessels beyond visual range. The third will provide short-range air defense, using an automatic anti-aircraft cannon capable of engaging uncrewed threats such as drones.
The boat features a new vessel architecture that includes an integrated automation and monitoring system, a fire-control system and steer-by-wire technology.
Designed for Sweden’s changing amphibious force
The project aligns with the “Amphibious Battalion 2030” concept, a modernization program intended to shift Sweden’s traditional coastal defense strategy toward a more mobile and dispersed maritime force. Rather than relying on larger platforms, the plan emphasizes smaller, fast craft that can be distributed across the islands and shallow waters of the Baltic Sea and Nordic archipelagos.
Production of the CB90 CX is already underway, with the Swedish Navy set to become its first customer. Saab has not disclosed delivery dates, but says the new boats will operate alongside the service’s existing CB90 NG fleet.
Order aims to replace boats donated to Ukraine
In the second quarter of 2025, the Swedish Defence Material Administration ordered 22 CB90 NG boats, valued at about 900 million Swedish kronor, or roughly $92 million. Some are intended to replace CB90 boats that Sweden transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of earlier support packages.
