GM Defense will manufacture 649 ISVs and will support the production of up to 2,065 vehicles with additional authorization over eight years. This is the first major award and delivery for GM Defense since it was reestablished in 2017.
GM Defense today announced that it has started renovations a GM building in in Concord, North Carolina to make the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), an all-terrain troop carrier intended to transport a nine-soldier squad. The facility, located in Concord, North Carolina, will produce ISVs for the U.S. Army as part of a $214.3 million contract awarded to GM Defense in June 2020. (see AutoInformed – GM Defense Delivers First Infantry Squad Vehicle to US Army)
A key supplier is North Carolina-based Hendrick Motorsports, which brings its extensive experience developing race cars in NASCAR’s high-load, high-risk, highly political environments. Hendrick is responsible for providing the chrome-moly steel exoskeleton of the vehicle frame, including the ISV rollover protection system.
The ISV is based off the 2020 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 mid-size truck architecture and uses 90% off-the-shelf parts, including Chevrolet Performance race components. The 5,000-pound ISV was engineered to fulfill military requirements and designed to provide rapid ground mobility. The expeditionary vehicle is light enough to be sling loaded from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and can fit inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter for air transport.
Construction at the 75,000-square-foot facility is expected to continue into early spring, and the production line will begin delivering vehicles in April. As GM Defense ramps to full-rate production, the facility will help to manufacture 649 ISVs and will support the production of up to 2,065 vehicles with additional authorization over eight years. The ISV program is the first major award for GM Defense since the subsidiary was re-established post-GM bankruptcy bailout in 2017. No word on a civilian version.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Hendrick Motorsports Making Chrome-Moly Steel Roll Bars for New GM Defense Infantry Squad Vehicle
GM Defense will manufacture 649 ISVs and will support the production of up to 2,065 vehicles with additional authorization over eight years. This is the first major award and delivery for GM Defense since it was reestablished in 2017.
GM Defense today announced that it has started renovations a GM building in in Concord, North Carolina to make the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), an all-terrain troop carrier intended to transport a nine-soldier squad. The facility, located in Concord, North Carolina, will produce ISVs for the U.S. Army as part of a $214.3 million contract awarded to GM Defense in June 2020. (see AutoInformed – GM Defense Delivers First Infantry Squad Vehicle to US Army)
A key supplier is North Carolina-based Hendrick Motorsports, which brings its extensive experience developing race cars in NASCAR’s high-load, high-risk, highly political environments. Hendrick is responsible for providing the chrome-moly steel exoskeleton of the vehicle frame, including the ISV rollover protection system.
The ISV is based off the 2020 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 mid-size truck architecture and uses 90% off-the-shelf parts, including Chevrolet Performance race components. The 5,000-pound ISV was engineered to fulfill military requirements and designed to provide rapid ground mobility. The expeditionary vehicle is light enough to be sling loaded from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and can fit inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter for air transport.
Construction at the 75,000-square-foot facility is expected to continue into early spring, and the production line will begin delivering vehicles in April. As GM Defense ramps to full-rate production, the facility will help to manufacture 649 ISVs and will support the production of up to 2,065 vehicles with additional authorization over eight years. The ISV program is the first major award for GM Defense since the subsidiary was re-established post-GM bankruptcy bailout in 2017. No word on a civilian version.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.