Two Prototypes to be Delivered Q3/FY21
The US National Advanced Mobility Consortium (NAMC) has selected Oshkosh Defense and partner, ST Engineering, to participate in the prototype phase for the US Army’s Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle (CATV), the company announced on 5 April. The CATV is a new tracked vehicle to operate in extreme cold weather or Arctic conditions, designed to replace the Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV) that has been in service since the early 1980s.
“Oshkosh Defense and ST Engineering bring together an abundance of defense industry and manufacturing expertise to address the US Army’s need for a proven vehicle that can easily maneuver in arctic environments,” commented Pat Williams, Oshkosh VP/GM of US Army and US Marine Corps programmes. “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.”
The Oshkosh CATV is derived from the BRONCO 3, a member of ST Engineering’s reliable BRONCO family, in service in multiple countries. The BRONCO family has undergone over 1,860 miles’ performance testing in arctic conditions as well as over 200,000 miles in desert theatres of operations. The Oshkosh CATV prototypes will offer built-in mission modularity to accommodate a variety of configurations: a General Purpose vehicle, for example, can be used as a troop carrier, medical or C2 vehicle, and can be switched from one configuration to another in the field within 30 minutes by a two-person crew.
“The new vehicle design will be built with the combined expertise of Oshkosh Defense and draws on the rich heritage of the BRONCO family of vehicles, a proven, robust and versatile articulated platform which has been in operation since 2001,” said Lee Shiang Long, President/Head, Land Systems, ST Engineering.
The companies will deliver two prototypes – one General Purpose and one Cargo vehicle – for testing and soldier evaluation in Q3/FY21. Subsequent to evaluation for payload, mobility, crush resistance, swimming, and transportability characteristics, the US Army has plans to issue a follow-on production contract for up to 200 CATVs in FY22.
