The U.S. Marine Corps purchases 2 RIPSAW M3 unmanned combat vehicles to test future expeditionary combat capabilities

The picture shows the RIPSAW M3 unmanned combat vehicle. (Picture taken from x@Drone_Wars_)

[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Comprehensive Report] The U.S. Marine Corps continues to promote the development of unmanned ground vehicles. Howe & Howe, a subsidiary of the military industry giant Textron Systems, announced on the 5th that it has won a contract from the U.S. Marine Corps to provide 2 RIPSAW vehicles. The M3 tracked unmanned vehicle was handed over to the Marine Corps Combat Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia for testing to evaluate the integration capabilities of sensors, communication equipment and multi-purpose payloads as a basis for the development of future unmanned ground combat systems.

Military news website "Army Recognition" reported that according to the specifications announced by Textron, the RIPSAW M3 has a maximum payload capacity of more than 5,000 pounds (approximately 2,268 kilograms), a top speed of more than 48 kilometers per hour, and has a modular carrier platform of approximately 5.85 square meters and a 10-watt vehicle power supply capability, which can support different types of mission equipment.

RIPSAW M3 adopts a modular open system architecture and can integrate optical reconnaissance sensors, tactical communication relay equipment or logistics transport payloads according to needs. The US military will use actual tests to evaluate the impact of various equipment on power, communications, load distribution and vehicle maneuverability to further establish the technical requirements for future unmanned ground vehicles.

It is worth noting that the US Marine Corps has currently deployed another unmanned vehicle system, NMESIS, using ROGUE-Fires unmanned launch vehicles to carry 2 Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) to perform shore-based anti-ship missions. However, RIPSAW M3 is positioned differently from NMESIS. The former is mainly used as a multi-purpose experimental platform, while the latter is a weapon system specifically designed to perform anti-ship strikes.

In an expeditionary combat environment, whether tracked unmanned vehicles can effectively pass through complex terrain and how to deploy them on transport ships and landing craft are the focus of the US military's evaluation. Compared with wheeled vehicles, crawler chassis have different characteristics in terms of terrain adaptability, road maneuverability, maintenance and logistical support, and the actual effectiveness still needs to be confirmed through testing.

In addition, RIPSAW M3 has high payload and power supply capabilities, but the actual mission endurance still depends on the equipment, power consumption and logistics requirements. Combat performance cannot be judged based on the original factory specifications alone.

The analysis pointed out that as the US Marine Corps continues to develop distributed expeditionary combat capabilities, RIPSAW M3 will help verify the feasibility of unmanned vehicles in tasks such as reconnaissance, communications and logistical support, laying the foundation for future multi-purpose unmanned ground systems.