PROCUREMENT: Army Still Testing Ripsaw, the ‘Luxury Super Tank’

A handful of the Ripsaw Extreme Vehicle 2, or EV2, products made by Howe and Howe Technologies Inc., based in Waterboro, Maine, are undergoing evaluations at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey to assess how they could be used in future combat operations. Indeed, on Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, head of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, rode in one of the vehicles with a driver as part of a demonstration.

The company describes the 750-horsepower, optionally manned vehicle — which is capable of reaching speeds of almost 100 miles per hour and costs roughly $250,000 — as a “handcrafted, limited-run, high-end, luxury super tank developed for the public and extreme off road recreation.”

The EV2 looks more than a little like the Batmobile from the Chris Nolan/Christian Bale movies, but unless it sports a 105mm cannon they really shouldn’t call it a tank.

120mm for the genuine luxury version.