Textron Systems has teamed up with Horstman Group to integrate HydroCore suspension technology into its M5 Robotic Vehicle- Medium (RV-M).
The two companies announced the collaboration at a Eurosatory conference held in Paris last week
Go deeper with GlobalData
The M5 RV-M is the uncrewed version of Textron Systems’ Ripsaw model. The hybrid-electric robotic uncrewed ground vehicle has a flat deck design to support various payloads for different missions.
The robotic vehicles, with near silent manoeuvres, helps to rescue soldiers from the riskiest places in the battlefield.
HydroCore is claimed to be the first integrated hydropneumatic spring and damper product designed under Horstman’s Scalable Mobility architecture.
As part of the collaboration, the Scalable Mobility architecture and HydroCore upgrade kits will be tested for two years.
Due to the Horstman Scalable Mobility architecture, when the M5 RV-M has the HydroCore strut installed during the time of vehicle manufacture, it becomes possible to add a new functionality to the strut at a later point with one or more upgrade kits, without actually modifying the HydroCore strut.
The strut will be available in various configurations including a passive damping kit and a semi-active or fully active kit.
Textron Systems Land and Sea Systems senior vice-president David Phillips said, “The vehicle dynamics, efficiency, and maintenance benefits we expect from HydroCore will help make the M5 RV-M the most capable, high-performance unmanned ground vehicle in its class available for the warfighter.”
