Photo: GM Defense
It’s no secret that the Chevy Colorado can be a dune-busting, desert-racing beast of a machine. It’s been proven to perform under pressure, even after enduring 10,000 miles of torturous off-road conditions. That makes it the perfect basis for GM Defense’s latest infantry squad vehicle.
Recently, the Colorado has even proven its mettle at Fort Bragg, piquing the interest of the US Army. That’s why the Army has contracted GM defense to build two more prototype vehicles. Here’s a look at what GM is aiming to provide.
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Military-grade specs
The new ISVs will be based on the Chevy Colorado — specifically its ZR2 and ZR2 Bison trims. Like the desert-racing truck we’ve covered before, the prototypes will boast a variety of both commercially available and custom parts, including jounce shocks, Multimatic DSSV dampers, and underbody skid plates. Under the hood, it’ll boast a 2.8-liter diesel engine that pumps out 186 horsepower.
However, this ISV won’t be your average workhorse. It has to be spacious enough to carry nine soldiers, along with plenty of military gear, while operating at highway speeds. At the same time, it needs to fit into a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, and lightweight enough to sling-loaded by a Blackhawk helicopter. And of course, it has to be tough enough to withstand some of the most rugged terrain on the planet.
Of course, Chevy and GM are both up to the challenge. GM Defense President David Albritton remarked, “We’re very proud of the opportunity to move forward in this competition and continue our development of a vehicle that will enable Army units to move around the battlefield with greater ease and reliability.”
The US Army hopes to obtain 650 of these ISVs as early as 2020.
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Source: GM Defense
Kimiko Kidd is a native Daytonian. She graduated from Wright State University with degrees in environmental science and sociology. She loves her trusty old Honda Civic, but dreams of owning a 1974 Ford Falcon XB with a custom paint job and a vintage Kawasaki Z1000. In her free time, Kimiko can be found watercolor-painting, baking muffins, collecting rocks, playing old-school Nintendo games, writing her novel, sewing stuffed animals, and cosplaying as her favorite Mad Max characters. See more articles by Kimiko.
