U.S. Army takes delivery of first Chevy-Colorado-based Infantry Squad Vehicle
The United States Army has taken delivery of its first Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) just 120 days after GM Defense LLC won its bid to supply the United States Army with its nine-passenger troop carrier. GM Defense is set to build 629 ISVs and has teamed with Ricardo Defense, who will develop the technical manual for the ISV as well as provide field support as part of a contract that’s worth $214.3M. If the Army takes a liking to the ISV, there’s the potential for the contract to expand to as many as 2065 vehicles over the next eight years.
The ISV is built using the chassis and powertrain of the 2020 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 and features Chevrolet Performance parts that increase its high-speed off-road prowess. That means it’s got the same 2.8-liter common-rail diesel engine and six-speed automatic as the commercially available product. In fact, 90 percent of the ISV’s parts are commercially available, helping ensure that routine maintenance will be a smooth process.
GM Defense’s entry was pitted against two competitors, one from Saic and Polaris and the other from Oshkosh Defense and Flyer Defense. All proposed vehicles had to carry a nine-person infantry team along with its gear while still being light enough to be hoisted by a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. The 5000-pound ISV from GM Defense fits the bill and is still small enough, despite the height of its roll cage, to fit inside a CH-47 Chinook.
With GM Defense reaping the benefit of Chevrolet’s Colorado ZR2 development, maybe Chevy can justify bringing a Raptor and TRX competitor to the market so there are some full-size pickup parts available for future military contracts. Hey, whatever it takes for a real high-speed off-road Silverado to finally get to dealerships.
