The V-990 is one of a series of small torpedo boats developed by the GDR under Project 131.400. Initially, the GDR's "mosquito fleet" consisted of large Project 183 "Bolshevik" boats transferred from the USSR. However, Germans also wanted small, high-speed boats. In the early 1970s, work began on designing them, and by 1972, four experimental boats had been built at the Peenewerft shipyard. After undergoing extensive testing, an additional 30 boats were ordered and built in Rechlin, then retrofitted in Wolgast. The first production boat of the project, the V-990, was laid down on April 15, 1974, at the VEB Schiffswerft Rechlin shipyard. It was completed on September 30 at the VEB Peenewerft shipyard in Wolgast and launched and handed over to the Volksmarine on December 20 of that year. Its service was uneventful and it was decommissioned on July 1, 1984. It was scrapped in May 1985.

The V-990 was introduced in Update 2.23 "Apex Predators". In terms of playstyle, it is remarkably similar to the Soviet Project 123K boat, which served as a model for its design, with high speed and decent armament. Its strengths lie in breaking through to distant points and capturing them, launching rapid torpedo attacks from behind islands, and making equally rapid retreats. Its very vulnerable in direct combat even with torpedo boats, as it has a very small crew.