The future of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) will rely on two tire-wheeled amphibious armored vehicles, namely the 8×8 Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) and the 6×6 Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV).
The 8×8 ACV is now operational, although recently it was grounded due to an overturning incident during an amphibious landing. Now, for ARVs, which are lighter in dimensions and weight, it is reported that they have just entered the testing phase by the USMC.
Quoted from thedrive.com (16/12/2022), Textron's prototype 8×8 Cottonmouth ARV has been sent for trials by the USMC, which is a lightweight amphibious ramp designed to replace the LAV-25 wheeled amphibious assault rifle which will be retired in the year 2030. The 6x6 ARV program is planned to have two contestants, and Cottonmouth 6x6 is one of them.
Textron handed over the Cottonmouth prototype to the Marines on December 1 at the Nevada Automotive Test Center located in Silver Springs. The handover marks the completion of the contractor's verification.
Textron was selected along with General Dynamics as one of the two companies selected to build the ARV prototype last July. The winning company will receive a contract worth up to US$6.8 billion to supply a total of 533 ARVs over five years.
The ARV program seeks to manufacture vehicles for Marine Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) battalions that will replace the LAV fleet, which is slated to begin phasing out in the mid-2030s.
According to Textron, the Cottonmouth 6x6 measures 6.8 meters long, 2.8 meters wide and 3 meters high — dimensions the company touts as one of the vehicle's hallmarks of making it easier to deploy quickly.
Cottonmouth 6×6 manned by two personnel with five marines. This Ranpur has a gross weight of 16782 kg with the ability to reach a maximum speed of 104 km per hour. The Cottonmouth can deploy (swim to shore) for amphibious operations, and up to four vehicles can also be carried by the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC).
While the armament is not the main selling point of Textron's ARV offering, the Cottonmouth was designed to accommodate the main gun turret with the RCWS. This prototype can also be seen in company photos equipped with the RCWS for mounting a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and Javelin anti-tank missile launcher.
In terms of electronics, Textron has only said that the Cottonmouth will be equipped with “advanced full-spectrum reconnaissance and surveillance sensors, but additional details in this regard have not been disclosed at this time. Nonetheless, Cottonmouth adopts an open architectural design, which allows for simplified integration of new electronics, software, and other hardware upgrades as needed.
The Cottonmouth 6x6 is equipped with IronVision head-mounted display technology from Elbit Systems of America. The solution allows the crew to 'see through' the hull of the vehicle, which is a major improvement in situational awareness for armored crews who have long lacked the level of awareness of 'buttoning' inside the vehicle with its hatches closed.
Textron is providing Cottonmouth with command, control, communications and computers-unmanned aerial system (C4/UAS) variants.
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