COMMENTARY
As the CATV becomes heavier it’s plausible, with the increase in ground pressure exerted by the vehicle, that there will be limita- tions in mobility—such as a change in center of gravity, decreased range, decreased speed and reduced CH-47 sling load capability (for a decoupled vehicle only)—in the terrain types the CATV was developed to traverse. In addition, with the heavier weight, there will be an increase in sustainment costs as driveline, suspen- sion and frame components, if not replaced with a heavier duty part, will potentially wear out sooner. With increased wear and tear on vehicle components, it’s logical that units will have to keep a larger store of on-hand parts for replacement to main- tain readiness.
The CATV is suited for the extreme.
WHY THE CATV? Te CATV is a modern replacement for the vintage 1980’s SUSV, which is experiencing sustainment issues and increasing parts obsolescence. Te SUSV family of vehicles provided extreme cold weather capability operating throughout Alaska and other U.S. cold weather regions in all weather conditions in all types of terrain. Although SUSVs were fielded in the mid-1980s as modification table of organization and equipment-authorized vehicles within the then 6th Infantry Division (Light), mean- ing they could be deployable, the SUSV family of vehicles were transitioned to and maintained as table of distribution and allowances-authorized vehicles, which are not deployable, with unit funding for sustainment support. Te sustainment costs for refurbishing SUSVs increased beyond affordability limits between 2003 and 2019. Te increase in price per vehicle was mostly because of the lack of parts necessary for the rebuild. Lack of parts drove more in-house, one-off fabrication and quickly escalated costs beyond supported funding. Army units resorted to using older SUSV parts to repair and replace parts on other SUSVs. Tis sustainment strategy could only support the SUSV until fiscal year 2022, after which it would become unsustainable regard- less of supported costs.
Te Army Requirements Oversight Council approved the CATV requirement as a replacement for the SUSV on April 15, 2019. Stephen Miller, a former U.S. Marine Corps ground combat and aviation officer, wrote about the Army Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle BvS10 BEOWOLF in Armada International following its
Association of the United States Army conference presentation in October 2022. According to Miller, with the new CATV, the Army will have a vehicle with an updated powerplant boasting 285 horsepower and improved speed up to 40 mph and more than a 620-mile range.
CATV’s performance capabilities include an all-terrain vehicle with a 4 km per hour amphibious swim. It is helicopter (CH-47 Chinook) sling load capable, and similar to the SUSV, the new CATV vehicle halves can be decoupled and recoupled. Te new CATV light body crew cab has increased crew and cargo capacity over the SUSV, and replacement parts are more readily available.
In its updated requirements the Army required a vehicle that would be globally responsive, providing transportation for up to a nine-person element, emergency medical evacuation, command- and-control capability, and general cargo transportation in on- and off-road environments under a wide range of other- wise impassable terrain, including frozen ice, snow and muskeg conditions to support year-round training, as well as conducting Homeland Defense, Defense Support of Civil Authorities and search-and-rescue mission sets. Te new CATV is extreme cold weather capable and has a 10,000-pound payload and a reconfig- urable interior modular design supporting transportation up to a nine-person element, emergency medical evacuation, command- and-control capability, and general cargo transportation.
TESTING ON THE WAY TO PRODUCTION Market research indicated up to eight vendors that had commer- cially available systems. Two vendors, BAE Systems and an Oshkosh-Singapore Technologies (OSH-ST) partnership, had systems that met most of the requirements. Te identified systems improved on the existing SUSV by having a modern and sustain- able design, improved powertrain performance and increased electrical network capability.
Procured through a shared cost other transaction agreement, BAE and OSH-ST delivered two vehicles each, one general purpose variant and one cargo variant, to the U.S. Army Cold Region Test Center at Fort Greely, Alaska, for prototype testing in June 2021. Testing was broken down into two phases. Phase I, from June to October 2021, included mobility, payload and robotic swim testing. Completing Phase I testing allowed each vendor to submit production proposals. Phase II, from November 2021 to January 2022, was extreme cold weather testing with sched- uled Soldier touch points including operational vignettes and specific tasks such as towing, sling load preparation and extreme cold weather recovery. Both testing phases were used to assess
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