A variant of an all-terrain armoured vehicle operated by the Singapore Army could be used in the future by the United States Army, which is seeking a new vehicle that can move personnel and supplies in the extreme weather of the Arctic region.
In a statement on Monday , American firm Oshkosh Defense said it had been selected - along with its partner ST Engineering - to participate in the prototype phase for the US Army's Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle (CATV).
The Oshkosh CATV, which is yet to be built, is derived from the Bronco 3, which is "a member of the proven, highly effective, and reliable Bronco family of vehicles by ST Engineering", said Wisconsin-based Oshkosh.
With the CATV, the US Army is looking to replace its Small Unit Support Vehicles that have been in service since the early 1980s.
The amphibious Bronco All Terrain Tracked Carrier, which can move through mud, swampy areas and water, was introduced into the Singapore Army in the early 2000s. It has also been used by British troops in Afghanistan.
According to ST Engineering's website, there are over 40 Bronco variants. The Bronco can be configured to support a wide variety of mission sets for modern armed forces, from combat support to combat service support missions.
The Defense News website reported that the US Army has awarded contracts to two vendors in the competitive prototyping effort - the team from Oshkosh Defense and ST Engineering, and a team from British aerospace firm BAE Systems.
It also reported that extreme cold-weather testing and evaluation is set to take place in Alaska at the Cold Regions Test Centre from August to December.
Oshkosh said the prototypes will be evaluated on payload, mobility, crush resistance, swimming and transportability. The US Army has announced plans to issue a follow-on production contract for up to 200 CATVs in FY2022, it added.
Mr Lee Shiang Long, president and head of land systems at ST Engineering, said: "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."
Mr Kelvin Wong, a defence technology specialist and editor with open-source defence intelligence provider Janes, said there is currently a limited number of suppliers that can meet US Army requirements, with only a handful of manufacturers having the technical know-how to construct these specialised vehicles.
Aside from ST Engineering's vehicles, there are only three other candidates - from BAE Systems, China and Russia, he said.
"We can safely exclude the Chinese and Russian vehicles from the US Army programme for obvious reasons, so that leaves only ST Engineering Land Systems/Oshkosh Defense and BAE Systems as the only viable contenders," he said.
He added that while the Bronco is a solid offering, it faces stiff competition from the incumbent BAE Systems' prototype. BAE Systems supplied the original Small Unit Support Vehicles currently in use by the US Army.
BAE Systems has also delivered thousands of Bv206S all-terrain carriers to military and civilian organisations in over 25 countries, he noted. In comparison, the Singapore Armed Forces is the only major operator of the Bronco. "That would no doubt factor into the US Army's consideration," he said.
