BAE Systems' Beowulf amphibious all-terrain vehicle has won the US Army's competition for Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicles (CATVs). Prototypes of these machines were tested in Alaska from August 2021 to January 2022. Testing included amphibious operations, terrain navigation of varying levels of difficulty, launch and operation in extreme cold weather, and evaluation by soldiers.
Beowulf is an unarmored, tracked vehicle for transporting personnel and various cargoes in either of two articulated compartments. Built on the basis of the armored vehicle BvS10, which is in service with several European countries, while the engine, transmission and hydraulic system from Beowulf from American suppliers.
The all-terrain vehicle can accommodate up to nine soldiers, can overcome snow, ice, stones, sand, mud and swamps, and also work in the mountains. Its amphibious function also allows it to navigate in flooded areas or coastal waters.
Beowulf's modular design can be modified to handle a variety of missions such as logistics, disaster relief, humanitarian aid, search and rescue, and so on.
The CATV program will replace an aging fleet of Small Unit Support Vehicles (SUSVs), also built by BAE Systems Hägglunds and known worldwide as the BV206. The BV206 has been in service worldwide, including with the US military, since the early 1980s.
The first machines built under the CATV program will be put into operation at the end of fiscal year 2023.
Sources: BAE Systems, U.S. Army