US Army, GM Defense agree to add 12,000 Infantry Squad Vehicles to fleet

GM Defense announced on Monday that the Army has expanded orders for the Infantry Squad Vehicle , or ISV, from the initial 649 to nearly 12,000.

The announcement, made at the annual exposition for the Association of the United States Army, means the service will be increasing its fleet of ISVs by roughly 1,750%.

Company President Steve duMont praised his GM Defense’s ability to deliver on the fast-paced needs of the Army, touting the company’s ability to meet the demands of the “modern defense landscape” with “advanced capability, rapid fielding and sustainable scale.”

“By transferring GM’s world-class engineering, supply chain and manufacturing scale directly to the service member, we are transforming customer needs into mission-ready capability faster than ever before,” duMont said.

To illustrate the pace at which it operates, the company referenced how it delivered PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement housing components to Lockheed Martin in just 22 days. The company said the feat shows how “GM’s advanced casting and precision-fabrication capabilities can immediately scale” to deliver critical components.

Ahead of development of the ISV, GM worked closely with the Army to identify “a clear operational gap,” according to the company. It then used the information to self-fund the creation of an ISV-Utility prototype. In turn, the GM Defense delivered seven prototypes of the “highly versatile five-soldier variant” for unit-level assessments “at no cost” to the Army.

The company added that those variants will be fielded across 39 active-duty and National Guard mobile brigades.

Unlike traditional combat vehicles, the ISV does not have armor. In fact, the standard design doesn’t even have doors or windows.

The ISV and ISV-Heavy, which are modeled after GM’s Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 and Chevrolet Silverado HD 3500 ZR2, respectively, are designed to be adapted to changes on the battlefield rather than specific mission sets.

Using lessons learned from Ukraine , Army officials say the ISV will serve as a platform for newly established Mobile Brigade Combat Teams , or MBCTs, which are designed to quickly respond to evolving threats and the demands of large-scale combat operations.

At AUSA, GM Defense also unveiled concepts for an unmanned ground vehicle, or UGV, and an expeditionary energy storage system.

The UGV uses what the company described as “Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD dual-rear-wheel skateboard architecture” and is intended for “silent logistics and casualty evacuation.” GM Defense aims to begin testing the vehicle in 2027.

The company also showcased the EPIQ Hybrid prototype, an Army-inspired expeditionary energy storage system. According to GM Defense, the 60-kilowatt, 100-kilowatt-hour system is paired with an onboard generator designed to reduce thermal and noise signatures.

Daniel Terrill is a contributor to Military Times. He’s been reporting on military issues, the gun industry, and the outdoors for nearly two decades. Although writing is his passion, he’s been a Marine, police officer, and, perhaps the most dangerous job of his career, a substitute teacher.

通用汽车防务公司周一宣布，陆军已将步兵班组车辆（ISV）的订单从最初的 649 辆增加到近 12,000 辆。

该消息是在美国陆军协会年度博览会上宣布的，这意味着该军种将把其ISV车队规模扩大约1750%。

公司总裁史蒂夫·杜蒙特赞扬了通用汽车防务公司满足陆军快速需求的能力，并称赞该公司能够以“先进的能力、快速部署和可持续的规模”满足“现代国防格局”的需求。

杜蒙特表示：“通过将通用汽车世界一流的工程、供应链和制造规模直接转移给军人，我们正在以前所未有的速度将客户需求转化为随时可执行任务的能力。”

为了说明其高效的运作速度，该公司举例说明了其如何在短短 22 天内向洛克希德·马丁公司交付了 PAC-3 导弹段增强型外壳组件。该公司表示，这一壮举表明“通用汽车先进的铸造和精密制造能力可以迅速扩大规模”，从而交付关键组件。

据通用汽车公司称，在ISV研发之前，该公司与陆军密切合作，确定了“一个明显的作战缺口”。随后，通用汽车利用这些信息自筹资金，研发了ISV-Utility原型车。作为回报，通用汽车防务公司向陆军免费交付了七辆“高度通用的五人乘员型”原型车，供部队进行评估。

该公司补充说，这些改进型装备将在 39 个现役和国民警卫队机动旅中部署。

与传统战车不同，ISV没有装甲。事实上，标准型ISV甚至没有车门和车窗。

ISV 和 ISV-Heavy 分别以通用汽车的雪佛兰 Colorado ZR2 和雪佛兰 Silverado HD 3500 ZR2 为原型，其设计旨在适应战场上的变化，而不是特定的任务组合。

陆军官员表示，吸取乌克兰的经验教训，ISV 将作为新成立的机动旅战斗队（MBCT）的平台，这些战斗队旨在快速应对不断变化的威胁和大规模作战行动的需求。

在 AUSA 展会上，通用汽车防务公司还推出了无人地面车辆（UGV）和远征储能系统的概念。

这款无人地面车辆采用了该公司所称的“雪佛兰Silverado 3500HD双后轮滑板式底盘架构”，旨在用于“无声后勤和伤员撤离”。通用汽车防务公司计划于2027年开始对该车辆进行测试。

该公司还展示了EPIQ Hybrid原型机，这是一款受美国陆军启发而设计的远征储能系统。据通用汽车防务公司称，这套60千瓦、100千瓦时的系统配备了一个车载发电机，旨在降低热效应和噪音特征。

丹尼尔·特里尔是《军事时报》的撰稿人。近二十年来，他一直报道军事问题、枪支行业和户外运动。虽然写作是他的挚爱，但他曾是一名海军陆战队员、一名警察，还做过一份或许是他职业生涯中最危险的工作——代课老师。