The Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) from GM Defense, a subsidiary of General Motors, demonstrated its performance under the prevailing environmental conditions during summer testing in the United Arab Emirates. This emerges from a statement from the company on March 6th. The vehicle covered almost 2,000 kilometers with maximum payload on highways, sand dunes, soft sand tracks and rocky roads. The different terrain and extreme climatic conditions challenged the vehicle and crew in harsh combat conditions.
In addition to the mobility tests, maintenance tests were carried out. Two days of on-site trial maintenance and repairs assessed serviceability and recovery to help potential customers assess repairability and sustainability.
The Armed Forces teams conducted the tests in accordance with the technical and tactical requirements of the UAE Armed Forces and other countries in the region.
As a result, the UAE determined in its final status that the ISV had successfully passed the summer testing after both evaluation phases.
“This was the first time that GM Defense has sent a vehicle to the UAE Summer Trials, and our successful completion is a testament to the strength of our ISV and to the expertise and commitment of our team,” said Steve duMont, President of GM Defense . The summer testing results are an important step in GM Defense's planned growth in the region as the company looks to offer the ISV and its variants to this important customer base, duMont continued.
“Completion of summer testing is a tremendous achievement for the ISV program and will provide defense and government customers in the region with great confidence in the capabilities that GM Defense can deliver to meet mission requirements,” said Bradley Watters, vice president of international Business development.
The completion of the UAE summer testing follows the announcement of a cooperation agreement between GM Defense and the Tawazun Council at the IDEX International Defense Exhibition and Conference in February 2023, writes GM Defense. The agreement facilitates business with the shared aim of providing military, security and government customers from the UAE and across the region with efficient and advanced solutions in the key technological areas of integrated vehicles, energy and propulsion - including fuel cells and power generation - as well as autonomy and connectivity .
The ISV is a light, fast, unarmored personnel transport vehicle in the 4-ton class that GM Defense developed together with Ricardo based on a Chevrolet Colorado. Powered by a 205kW diesel engine, the vehicle can transport nine soldiers (including the driver). The ISV is air transportable by helicopter as an external load (UH-60 Black Hawk) and as an internal or external load (CH-47 Chinook). It can be dropped from the air at low speed from transport aircraft such as the C-130 Hercules or C-17 Globemaster III.
In 2020, GM Defense received a delivery order for 649 ISVs, of which around 300 have been delivered to the troops so far. The US Army needs 2,065 vehicles.
Editorial staff / gwh
Related topics
First M88A3 will be delivered in 2022 The Infantry Squad Vehicle enters series production Start of production of Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) US Army certifies smart device rail for handguns Acceptance test for modernized Patriot completed Corona prevents Israeli participation in IDEX in Abu Dhabi Excalibur projectiles for the Dutch army Airborne platform: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Defenture plan cooperation First look at the MTV for the Netherlands