Sled Envy: Vermont's Mountain Warfare School Gets Its First Arctic-Grade Vehicles
A 19-vehicle BAE Systems delivery puts the Guard's Jericho training hub into a national cold-weather modernization program.
The U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School at Camp Ethan Allen in Jericho has taken delivery of its first Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicles — a modest but notable addition to one of the country’s two elite mountain-training sites.
BAE Systems announced July 2 that it had completed a batch of 19 CATVs for the U.S. military, with vehicles going to the Vermont National Guard school, the Arctic Region Test Center in Alaska, and the 11th Airborne Division. For the Jericho school, it’s a first: the platform hasn’t been in the school’s inventory before.
The CATV is the unarmored variant of BAE Systems Hägglunds’ BvS10 “Beowulf” — an articulated, two-body tracked vehicle. According to the company and defense-trade reporting, it’s amphibious, carries up to 14 personnel or roughly 8 tonnes of cargo, and travels at speeds up to about 40 mph. The Army selected it in 2022 to replace the Cold War–era Bv206, the small tracked carrier many older Guardsmen would recognize.
The program is a large one. It began with a seven-year, $278.2 million contract in 2022, followed by a $68 million order in 2024 for 44 more vehicles. This delivery brings the running total to 58, with 97 more on order against an Army goal of 487. Alongside the hardware, BAE said personnel will receive hands-on operation and maintenance training.
How it hits Vermont: The Jericho school — founded in 1983, now the Defense Department’s sole producer of the military mountaineer badge — trains roughly 1,000 soldiers a year, including active Army, Guard, other branches, and allied militaries. New vehicles mean the students who cycle through Vermont’s mountains are training on the same platform the Army intends to field for its cold-weather force nationwide.
Compass Vermont is independent and reader-supported.