BAE Systems wins $278 million contract for Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicles for US Army

Europe, News, US August 24, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The Swedish division of BAE Systems won the hotly competed contract of $278 million to build Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicles (CATV) for the U.S. Army.

BAE Systems’ Beowulf vehicle was competing against the Bronco 3 platform developed jointly by Oshkosh Defense Technologies and Singapore Technologies Engineering. The company would now receive a $278 million contract for the production of units, spare parts as well as logistics support for 10 CATV vehicles. The contract would run through 2029.

The Beowulf vehicle would be built by BAE Systems’ Swedish division, BAE Hagglunds, based in Northern Sweden. In a statement released by the company it was stated that although the U.S. supplier would contribute to the production process by providing several key components, such as engine, hydraulics, and transmissions, the final assembly and post-production tests would be carried out in Sweden.

BAE Systems’ Beowulf is a double cabin unarmored, tracked, highly versatile vehicle for carrying personnel and a variety of payloads in either of its two compartments. It can run smoothly in all terrains including snow, ice, rock, sand, mud, and swamp conditions. The vehicle can also operate in steep mountain environments. Its amphibious feature also allows it to swim in flooded areas or coastal waters.

The contract with the U.S. Army marks the first sale for Beowulf. The vehicle is an upgraded version of BEA Systems’ BvS10 armored variant which is in service with several European nations. The BvS10 vehicles are largely used in the Arctic Mobility missions.

The vice president of business development at BAE Systems Platforms & Services Mark Signorelli spoke about the Beowulf deal by stating that “Beowulf is a highly capable solution to meet the U.S. Army’s requirement for Arctic operations. We look forward to providing our soldiers operating in challenging terrain and environments with this highly capable vehicle.”

Signorelli further added that “We have been maturing and modernizing cold weather all-terrain capabilities for decades, bringing advanced capabilities to the United States and numerous other countries. This contract means we will continue to do so for many years to come.”

*^{BAE Systems Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle Beowulf. (Image Credit: BAE Systems)}*

Beowulf successfully completed its prototype testing and evaluation last year in Alaska, U.S. The testing included amphibious operations, navigation terrain tests with varying levels of complexity, operations in extremely cold weather as well as user feedback and assessment by operating soldiers.

Under the contract, BAE Systems would also provide a fleet of Small Unit Support Vehicles (SUSVs) to the U.S. Army to accompany the Beowulf vehicles. The developers of Beowulf aim to replace the BV206 vehicles that have been in global operations since the early 1980s.