ARWIMS

One Propulsion System,
Any Surface,
Improved amphibious mobility performance
(speed, energy savings, and increased range)
without changing drivetrains.

Engineered for the Extremes of Rasputitsa.

ARWIMS began as a response to the "Season of Bad Roads"—the legendary mud-clogged terrains that ground conventional transport to a halt.

We needed a vehicle that could move on snow, in mud, and even on water without changing propulsion. The answer: retractable-paddle tracks. Paddles stay retracted on hard ground, deploy partially on soft terrain, and fully in water. One drive, no transition.


We also discovered that our tracks could simltaneously decrease consumption and increase speed.

What we've demonstrated

True all-terrain capability
The same track provides traction on land and thrust in water. Beach on sand, cross a marsh or pond, and drive away with no mechanical change.
High static thrust at low speed, with safety
In shallow, debris-filled, or vegetated water where propellers ventilate, cavitate, or break, direct paddle contact moves more water with less slip. A propeller hitting a submerged obstacle breaks. That is why rescue crews often shut down engines in flooded zones. Integrated waterjets avoid breakage but clog quickly with debris. This is not a universal advantage. It is specific to high-load, low-speed conditions.

What we're exploring now

Three operating regimes, all under active measurement:

  - 

Displacement Mode (heavy load)
Direct paddle thrust for maneuvering and bollard pull where propellers are inefficient.

  - 

Hybrid Mode (semi-planing):
The flat underside of the track adds planing area.
Here is our central hypothesis.
- On a conventional propeller, slip is about 5%. Water slides very slowly relative to the boat, so friction, which scales with the square of speed, stays very low.
- With ARWIMS, the lower track moves backward at a relative speed close to that slip. Unlike a fixed hull where all friction opposes motion, this friction acts rearward, in the direction of thrust. Our model predicts it contributes to propulsion instead of opposing it.
We are now validating this with tank tests and our simulator, measuring how much this gain offsets the internal losses of the track.

  - 

Track-Only Planing Mode (light craft)
When only the tracks touch the water. Early data from light-scale models, at reduced scale, aligns with our calculations: higher speeds than a displacement hull of the same power, with lower consumption.
We are now seeking the limit where internal track losses and leading-edge turbulence cancel the benefit.

Our simulator is available on the site. Choose a preset or directly the basic characteristics, and you will get a complete performance summary, minimum and maximum speeds, power and consumption. This information is provided for the 3 possible regimes and for equivalent propeller vessel.

We will publish speed, power, and consumption curves for each demonstrator as we go.

Where ARWIMS makes sense today

  - 

Rivers and streams considered non-navigable, because the vehicle drives over shallows

  - 

High-efficiency, high-speed recreational and transport boating (even without a marina berth)

  - 

Disaster response and flood rescue

  - 

Military logistics and shore landing, Unmanned Amphibious Combat Vehicle (UACV)

In short: specialized amphibious vehicles. Not yet a universal solution.

Honest engineering

True all-terrain capability
Retractable-paddle tracks add moving parts, weight, and maintenance.
We accept those trade-offs because they deliver what neither propeller nor wheel can do alone: seamless land-to-water transition.
Reliability, sealing, and serviceability come before performance claims.

Our approach

Build. Test. Measure. Share.
ARWIMS is a new architecture for amphibious mobility.
We are progressively providing the evidence of its effectiveness for the relevant areas of maritime and riverine transport.