GM Defense LLC was awarded a $214 million firm-fixed-price contract by the U.S. Army for acquisition of the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV). The contract also includes installation kits, ancillary hardware and logistical support. The U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) at Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-D-0066).
Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 24, 2028.
The U.S Department of Defense has also announced another contract, worth $8.58 million, for initial delivery of Infantry Squad Vehicles and integrated product support. Work locations and funding for this contract will also be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 24, 2021.
GM Defense ISV
GM Defense’s ISV is based on the Chevrolet Colorado midsize truck architecture and its ZR2 and ZR2 Bison variants, supplemented with both custom and commercially available parts proven by Chevy Performance engineering in more than 10,000 miles of punishing off-road development and desert racing in the Best in the Desert Racing series.
Applied to ISV, Colorado’s architecture undergirds an occupant and cargo superstructure powered by a 186-horsepower, 2.8L diesel powerplant, and six-speed automatic transmission.
GM’s solution to the Army’s next-generation transportation challenge features 70 percent commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components, including high-performance parts developed and proven by Chevy Performance engineering such as long-travel Multimatic DSSV dampers, long-travel rear leaf springs, jounce shocks, front upper control arms, steel driveshaft, underbody skid plates and ball-spline half shafts. Most of these parts are available either on the Colorado ZR2 Bison or as Chevrolet Performance race components.
U.S. Army Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) Program
Through the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) program, the U.S. Army is seeking a lightweight expeditionary all-terrain vehicle that is essential to increase speed in combat and provide the ability to be transported by helicopter into austere locations.
The ISV must be light enough to be sling-loaded from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, compact enough to fit inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter and versatile enough to carry up to nine soldiers and all of their gear at highway speeds on pavement and off-road under extreme conditions with a payload capacity of 5,000 lbs. A full Production Specification is expected to be released with the RFP.
The ISV will provide enhanced tactical mobility for Army Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCT) to move quickly around the battlefield, including the ability to execute medium distance insertion operations, providing commanders greater freedom of movement and freedom of action.
Other than the GM Defense’s ISV proposal, the other two proposals for the program were Oshkosh Defense-Flyer ISV and SAIC-Polaris DAGOR.
Author: Arun Mathew
Originally Published: https://defpost.com/gm-defense-awarded-214-million-u-s-army-infantry-squad-vehicle-isv-contract/#:~:text=GM%20Defense%20LLC%20was%20awarded,Infantry%20Squad%20Vehicle%20(ISV).&text=Work%20locations%20and%20funding%20for,date%20of%20June%2024%2C%202021.