Background, Capability Need and System Characteristics.
The Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV) is a lightweight, tracked vehicle with exceptional cross-country mobility, capable of operating in extreme environmental conditions and in terrain that is impassable to most other forms of vehicular transportation. These conditions include areas with heavy snow, marshy, flooded areas requiring amphibious capabilities, and mountainous terrain. The Army first procured the SUSV in 1983 as many as 160 platforms were in use as late as 2020. Army National Guard (ARNG) units in Alaska, Vermont, Colorado, and Minnesota utilize the SUSV to perform search and rescue (SAR), Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response (HA/DR), casualty evacuation and training support, including training at the Army Mountain Warfare School at Camp Ethan Allen in Jericho, Vermont. The SUSV is not a Program of Record (POR) with associated sustainment maintenance and reset funding provided, and this aging fleet has required significant amounts of operations & maintenance funding to maintain operational readiness rates. Due to the age of the platform and obsolescence, the fleet numbers continue to fall.
In May 2019, the Army Requirements Oversight Committee (AROC) approved the new Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle (CATV) as a POR with a requirement of 92 vehicles for the ARNG and 71 for the Active Army. The CATV will replace the aging Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV) starting in FY 2023 and will be sustainable and supportable for decades to come. The CATV will restore significant capability gaps that have occurred with the SUSV being aged out of service after 40 years in use.

Issue.
In August 2022, the Army awarded a contract for 110 CATV platforms to be fielded to the Active Army and ARNG beginning in FY2023. Of the original 92 required platforms, the Army is only procuring 51 platforms for the Army National Guard and all of these platforms are to be delivered in the latter part of the fielding schedule (FY26-27 timeframe) based on the current government funding profile. One state, Colorado, is not programmed to receive any systems despite the current platform being an integral part of their winter weather disaster response plan. Likewise, the other 12 National Guard Arctic Interest Council (NGAIC) states are not included in the requirements document nor are Air National Guard locations in cold weather states.

Recommendation.
Utilize NGAUS legislative resolution and legislative appropriations beginning in FY24 to fully fund the 92 ARNG platforms required and assess requirements for the platforms in other NGAIC states as well as Air National Guard bases in cold weather climates.