Deployment
Ripsaw M5 (RCV) at United States
~10.5-ton tracked hybrid-electric robotic combat vehicle (with Howe & Howe); four M5 prototypes delivered to the US Army for RCV-Medium. The lighter Ripsaw M3 was reported as the 2025 RCV down-select variant.
Ripsaw M5 (RCV) by Textron Systems · Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified · Defense UGV
Recent coverage
- Textron Systems, Howe & Howe and Teledyne FLIR Defense Deliver RIPSAW M3 Prototypes to US ArmyBen Smith, Deploy Editor · 2025-01-01
- First European RIPSAW M3 Robotic Ground Vehicle Sold to SwedenBen Smith, Deploy Editor · 2025-01-01
The US Army received 4 Ripsaw M5 vehicles as RCV-Medium prototypes under the Robotic Combat Vehicle program, which was cancelled in 2026, leaving the platform's future trajectory uncertain pending Army restructure or alternative program alignment.
Key facts
- Operator
- US Army
- Program
- RCV-Medium prototype; 4 Ripsaw M5 delivered (Ripsaw M3 reported as the 2025 RCV down-select)
- Lifecycle stage (re-verified 2026-06-07)
- Pilot under US Army Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program. RCV program cancelled in 2026. Ripsaw M5 future trajectory uncertain pending Army restructure or alternative program alignment.
Exposure
- Customer segment
- research
- Scale tier
- pilot lt10
Each exposure value carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Safety record
No incidents on record for Ripsaw M5 (RCV) at United States.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
- Trust tier
- Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
- Last updated
- 2026-08-21
- Model
- Ripsaw M5 (RCV)
- Company
- Textron Systems
- Location
- United States
- Operator
- Textron Systems
- Status
- pilot
- Operator type
- customer deployed
- Scale at site
- 2 to 10 units
- Site environment
- mixed
- Location precision
- verified coordinates
- First seen
- 2020-01-01
- ID
7244dea9-69b7-4f12-ba30-b18a6c4970f7
Timeline
- Jan 2020First recordedRipsaw M5 (RCV) first documented operating at United States.
- Jan 2020created
- Jun 2026field updatedkey facts: lifecycle enrichment added → Lifecycle stage (re-verified 2026-06-07)
- Aug 2026Current status: pilot, reviewedLatest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.
On the deployment map
Ripsaw M5 (RCV) operates in United States. Explore the full verified map:
Sources (2)
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Maturity + lifecycle
Maturity stage: pilot
Lifecycle: active
Architectural position
Cohort: defense_ugv
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Ripsaw M5 (RCV) at United States.Common questions
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Deploy Watch
Track this deployment.
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Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /deployments/textron-ripsaw-m5-us-army-rcv.md
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/robots/7244dea9-69b7-4f12-ba30-b18a6c4970f7
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Textron Systems' showcase of its Ripsaw M5 Robotic Combat Vehicle (developed with Howe & Howe). A teleoperated, operator-controlled combat platform; any autonomy kit is separate, and the autonomy framing is the maker's.