BvS10 Viking

Origins and development

Hägglunds of Sweden, now BAE Systems Hägglunds, developed the BvS10 together with the British Ministry of Defence for the Royal Marines, who named it Viking and listed it officially as the All Terrain Vehicle (Protected) ^[1][2][3]. It grew out of Hägglunds' earlier Bv206 and Bv206S carriers, keeping their two tracked cabs joined by a steering joint but adding armor, a much stronger engine, more ground clearance and a new chassis, power train and suspension ^[1][3]. The Royal Navy has called the Viking much like the long-serving BV, except armed and armored ^[4]. Bv stands for bandvagn, Swedish for a tracked vehicle ^[2].

The first prototypes arrived in June 2001 and spent about 18 months on trials in Norway, the UK, Sweden and Oman, from the Arctic Circle to the desert ^[1]. The Royal Marines accepted the vehicle in February 2004 ^[2]. Britain ordered 108 in troop carrier, command, and repair and recovery versions ^[1][2]. The first production vehicles arrived in July 2003, initial operating capability followed in 2005, and the last of the batch came in early 2006 ^[1][2]. Final assembly is at Örnsköldsvik in Sweden ^[1][5].

Service and operators

The Viking first went on operations in late 2006, when the Royal Marines took 33 of them, fitted with bar armor, to Helmand province in Afghanistan ^[1][3]. Their low ground pressure meant they seldom set off anti-tank mines, but they proved vulnerable to roadside bombs, and from 2010 Britain used the Warthog, based on Singapore's Bronco, in that role ^[1][3]. The UK bought 24 improved Mk II Vikings in 2009 and by April 2016 had rebuilt 99 older vehicles to a common mine-protected Mk II standard ^[1][3]. The upgraded Vikings are expected to serve until 2058 ^[6].

The Netherlands ordered 74 for its marines in June 2005 ^[1]. France ordered 53 in December 2009, Sweden 48 in January 2012 and another 102 or 105 (sources differ) in December 2013, and Austria 32 in June 2016 ^[1][3]. Sweden added 127 in 2021 ^[5]. Turkey's FNSS has built the type under license ^[3]. The Netherlands and the UK have given Vikings to Ukraine, the UK announcing 20 in December 2023 ^[3][6].

In December 2022 Sweden, Germany and the UK agreed to buy 436 more together, about $760 million worth, under a framework they named the Collaborative All-Terrain Vehicle program (not the US Army program with the same initials): 236 for Sweden, 140 for Germany and 60 for the UK, with deliveries from 2024 ^[5][6]. In November 2025 the Indian Army signed for the BvS10 Sindhu, adapted for high altitude, desert, marsh and water and built by Larsen & Toubro at Hazira with Hägglunds' support, the type's first sale in Asia ^[7].

Design and how it swims

The BvS10 is two tracked units linked by an articulated steering joint ^[1]. Hydraulic rams bend the joint to steer, so it need not brake one track to turn, which helps in snow, sand and soft ground ^[1]. All four rubber tracks, each 620 mm (24 in) wide, are driven, keeping ground pressure about the same as the Bv206's even though that vehicle is about 4 t lighter ^[1]. The original Viking had a 5.9-liter Cummins six-cylinder turbodiesel of 250 bhp (183 kW), more than twice the Bv206's power, and an Allison automatic gearbox; later versions use a 6.7-liter engine of about 285 hp ^[1][3]. The steel body takes bolt-on armor against 7.62 mm armor-piercing bullets and shell fragments ^[1].

In the Royal Marines' troop carrier, the front cab seats the driver and three marines and the rear cab eight more ^[1]. On roads the BvS10 is credited with about 65 to 70 km/h (40 to 43 mph) ^[3]. It drives through water 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) deep as it is ^[1]. To swim, the crew spends under two minutes closing openings and fitting a front vane that keeps the bow wave off the windows, and the vehicle then moves at about 5 km/h (3 mph) ^[1][3]. It can be launched from landing craft, slung under a Chinook helicopter or split in two for lighter helicopters, and is rated for about -46 °C to +49 °C (-51 °F to 120 °F) ^[1][2].

Beowulf and the US Army's Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle

Beowulf is an unarmored BvS10 with a new cab and a rear unit that can be set up for troops or cargo ^[3][9]. The War Zone reported a top speed above 40 mph (64 km/h), a range of at least 250 miles (400 km) and room for up to 14 people ^[9]. It is built in Sweden with a US-made engine, transmission and hydraulics, and it can be slung under a CH-47 Chinook ^[9].

The US Army set up its Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle (CATV) program to replace the Small Unit Support Vehicle, a Bv206 variant dating from the Cold War ^[8][9]. In 2021 it signed prototype agreements with BAE Systems (Beowulf) and with Oshkosh Defense and ST Engineering (Bronco 3), and tested both in Alaska from August 2021 to January 2022 for mobility, payload, swimming and extreme cold ^[8][9]. On 22 August 2022 the Army chose BAE under a $278 million firm fixed-price contract and said it planned to buy 110 vehicles for the active Army and National Guard, each carrying up to nine soldiers across water, tundra and muskeg bog ^[8].

By 1 October 2023 five CATVs had reached the Northern Warfare Training Center at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, for training and testing with the 11th Airborne Division ^[10]. In July 2026 BAE reported 19 more delivered, including the first for the Army National Guard, bringing the Army's total to 58 ^[11]. Army budget documents cited by Janes set an acquisition objective of 487 vehicles in general-purpose and cargo versions ^[11].

Photos

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