Saab CB90 CX: the new combat boat with radar, MARTE ER missiles and a 30 mm cannon

Moving troops is no longer the only role of a small combat boat. Sweden’s Saab presented on Monday, November 2 the Combat Boat 90 CX (CB90 CX), a new, larger version of the well-known CB90, which instead of simply carrying forces becomes a hub of sensors and weapons. The boat is offered in three optionally crewed configurations: ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), anti-ship warfare and short-range air defence (SHORAD).

According to Saab, the CB90 CX is larger than the existing CB90, has greater payload capacity and extensively upgraded onboard systems, and can operate across a wider range of sea states. It keeps the characteristics of its troop-carrying predecessors and allows a broader range of capabilities to be integrated. The dimensions and performance the company gives are a length of 18 metres, a beam of 4 metres, a draught of 1.1 metres, a speed of more than 40 knots, two engines of 1,100 horsepower each and a crew of 0 to 10. The “0” crew means the boat can also operate without a crew, with Saab’s Autonomous Ocean Core autonomy system.

The ISR configuration focuses on multi-domain situational awareness and uses Saab’s Sea Giraffe 1X radar, together with the Trackfire remote weapon station (RWS) and its electro-optical sensors. The radar provides, according to the company, 360-degree surveillance with a technical range of more than 100 kilometres and detects, classifies and tracks air and surface targets at the same time, among them unmanned aircraft, small boats and fast-moving threats. Sensor data can be shared in real time with other platforms, so that a common operational picture is formed and responses are coordinated.

The anti-ship configuration carries MBDA’s MARTE ER missiles and gives the boat a beyond-the-horizon strike capability against surface targets, at distances exceeding 100 kilometres. The system combines advanced guidance and navigation with targeting data received from external sensors. Guidance is active radar, flight is sea-skimming, at very low altitude over the sea, and the system works in all weather.

The third configuration answers the proliferation of unmanned aircraft. The SHORAD uses Rheinmetall’s SeaSnake 30 remote weapon station, with a stabilised 30 mm automatic cannon, electro-optical and infrared sensors, an integrated fire-control system and programmable airburst ammunition. The weapon is intended to engage unmanned aircraft, helicopters and loitering munitions, as well as selected targets at sea and on land, such as small landing and patrol craft. Targeting, Saab says, remains accurate even while the boat is moving.

The CB90 CX is already in production for Sweden, which is the launch customer, and will serve alongside the smaller CB90 NG. The CB90 serves in nine navies and operates in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. Anders Hellman, head of Saab’s Docksta business unit, says the future of naval operations is not more platforms but distributing greater combat power across the force, with the boat linking sensors and weapons, crewed or not. Source: Saab’s announcement and product page.

Last week Saab also presented the Ocean Barrier underwater surveillance system. For the company’s naval radars see also the Sea Giraffe AMB D.