WASHINGTON – Several major Defence companies will bid for the opportunity to build the next generation of US Marine Corps’ advanced reconnaissance vehicle, or ARV.
The Marine Corps invited proposals for the research and development of an ARV prototype vehicle as part of its modernisation program to replace around 600 Light Armoured Vehicles from the 1980s. The vehicles must be equipped to operate on land and amphibiously. Textron believes its $6 million purpose-built prototype dubbed Cottonmouth is the only one in the running that’s already been developed and tested. The Cottonmouth prototype is built on an open system architecture that proposes to streamline integration of existing government sensors.