Army chooses GM to build Infantry Squad Vehicle

GM Defense has been selected to build, field and sustain the new Infantry Squad Vehicle, the Army announced this weekend.

The ISV is intended for use by a nine-soldier infantry squad moving within "the close battle area" and is expected to be lightweight and air-transportable.

"The ISV is light enough to be sling-loaded from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and compact enough to fit inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter for air transportability," GM said in a press release. "The total production ISV contract award value is $214.3 million to procure the initial Army Procurement Objective of 649. The approved Army Acquisition Objective is 2,065 vehicles."

The GM Defense vehicle is based on the 2020 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 platform and leverages 90% commercial off-the-shelf parts, according to GM's partner Ricardo Defense.

The Army in June 2019 awarded GM Defense a $1 million contract to develop two ISV prototypes for testing and evaluation. The company and its partner beat Oshkosh Defense teamed with Flyer and a Science Applications International Corp.-Polaris team for the production contract.

The teams' prototypes were delivered to Aberdeen Test Center, MD, last November for testing. A second round of testing took place at Ft. Bragg, NC, to focus on operational use.

"Winning this Army award is well-deserved recognition for the hard work and dedication of our GM Defense team and their production of a fantastic vehicle," David Albritton, president of GM Defense, said in the company's release. "We are confident the GMD ISV will meet and exceed all of our customers' requirements. It's indeed an honor to leverage our parent company's experience as one of the world's largest automotive manufacturers to design, build and deliver the best technologies available to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and our allies."