DND test-drives $620,000 silent snowmobile

Prototype put through paces at Petawawa for speed, power, battery life — and sound

The Canadian military has been secretly test-driving a $620,000 stealth snowmobile in its quest to quietly whisk troops on clandestine operations in the Arctic.

The Canadian Press has learned that soldiers have taken the new hybrid-electric snowmobile prototype on trial runs at CFB Petawawa to evaluate features such as speed, noise level, battery endurance and acceleration.

The Department of National Defence even has a nickname for its cutting-edge, covert tool: “Loki,” after the “mythological Norse shapeshifting god.”

Word of the federal hunt for a stealth snowmobile first surfaced two years ago when National Defence’s research and development agency posted a public tender. The project kicked off at a time when the government was laying out promises to boost Canada’s military muscle in the Far North.

The Canadian Press obtained a report that offers a behind-the-scenes peek at how soldiers ran the prototype through “informal” tests in February across varying snow conditions.

“These experiments compared Loki against commercially available snowmobiles already in use, testing a wide variety of the snowmobiles’ characteristics, including speed, towing capacity, endurance, mobility, usability, and of course, noise emissions,” says the heavily redacted report.

In one test, military personnel used sound-meter readings to compare the prototype’s noise performance against two gas-powered snowmobiles.

During another trial, the machine was driven at a steady speed on a mix of flat terrain and hilly snow-covered roads until batteries died.

Soldiers wielding a radar gun also tested the stealth snowmobile’s acceleration as it raced 100 metres down a flat, snow-packed track.

“The prototype must be at least nearly as capable and reliable as a standard internal combustion snowmobile, while providing a significant noise reduction,” the report said.

“For military purposes, it is not enough for a snowmobile to operate quietly.”

CANADIAN FORCES The military has been test-driving a stealth snowmobile that would be quieter than typical vehicles seen here.