US-based military vehicle manufacturer Oshkosh Defense announced it has teamed up with ST Engineering to participate in the prototype phase for the US Army’s cold weather all-terrain vehicle (CATV) program.
The CATV is a new program for a tracked vehicle that operates in extreme cold weather or arctic conditions and is designed to replace the small unit support vehicles (SUSVs) that have been in service since the early 1980s.
“We are confident that the Oshkosh CATV will enable soldiers to efficiently move personnel and supplies in the most extreme conditions, and we look forward to getting them into the hands of the end user for testing and evaluation,” said Pat Williams, vice president and general manager of US Army and US Marine Corps programs.
According to Oshkosh, the CATV will be derived from the Bronco 3, a member of the Bronco family of vehicles by ST Engineering which have been in service in various countries. The company says the Bronco has undergone more than 1,860 miles of performance testing in arctic conditions as well as over 200,000 miles in a theatre of operations on harsh desert terrain.
Oshkosh explained that the prototypes will offer built-in mission modularity to accommodate a variety of configurations. This means that a general purpose vehicle will be able to serve as a troop carrier, casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) or command and control vehicle, for example. A two-person crew will also be able to swapp from one configuration to another in the field within 30 minutes.
Oshkosh Defense and ST Engineering will deliver two prototypes – one general purpose and one cargo vehicle for testing and soldier evaluation in Q3FY21. The prototypes will be evaluated on payload, mobility, crush resistance, swimming, and transportability.
The US Army plans to issue a follow-on production contract for up to 200 CATVs in FY22.
BAE Systems is also participating in the CATV competition with its Beowulf tracked vehicle. The company said last year it was ready to deliver two prototype vehicles as a production ready vehicle capable of operating in arctic environments and in all types of terrain for the movement of personnel and cargo.
