The Ripsaw M3 shattered minds and ignited imaginations when it blasted onto the screen in 2017’s “The Fate of the Furious.” Besides wanting to own one, most of us saw massive potential for the vehicle to make an impact in the U.S. military. You could even say that not buying a fleet of Ripsaws for American service members would be tantamount to screwing around.
pparently, decision-makers at the highest levels of the Defense Department weren’t just paying attention to “The Fate of the Furious,” but thinking several steps ahead. The Ripsaw is in contention for a very juicy military contract as we speak — but not in the form you might expect.
As cool as the original Howe & Howe Ripsaw is, there’s one critical vulnerability: the driver. Eliminate the risk of human casualties, and the vehicle looks like something out of the “Terminator” franchise rather than a car flick.
Killer robot tanks might sound like science fiction, but the Army is very serious about developing a Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV). According to a 2023 Army release, the service has narrowed the search down to prototypes from four companies: General Dynamics Land Systems, McQ, Textron Systems and Oshkosh Defense.
The goal for this program, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service, is to build an unmanned vehicle that’s small enough to be transported by helicopter and powerful enough to bear anti-tank guided missiles.In the future, RCVs will be able to probe enemy defenses, foil ambushes and survey unfamiliar terrain with advanced weapons and surveillance systems instead of human lives. The RCV program is searching for RCVs that could one day take on missions currently carried out by everything from dismounted infantry to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
