GM is developing a drone-killing off-road pickup for the US Army
Infantry Squad Vehicle outfitted with new tech
A General Motors pickup has never hauled something like this.
GM Defense is collaborating with military contractor Black Sage Technologies to integrate a drone defense system into the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) that GM Defense recently began supplying to the US Army.
The ISV is based on the last-generation Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize pickup and manufactured in Concord, N.C., using frames supplied by NASCAR's Hendrick Motorsports.
The midsize truck was engineered for high-speed off-road driving and designed to fit inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, slung from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, or air-dropped from a cargo plane by parachute for quick deployment into the field.
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GM Defense president Steve duMont with the ISV. (GM Defense)
The vehicle can be outfitted to fit nine troops, but there are several configurations that mix passenger, cargo and arms carrying capabilities.
The ISV Multi-Mission and Logistics Variant is a flatbed pickup. (GM Defense)
One of them is a two-passenger flatbed pickup called the ISV Multi-Mission and Logistics Variant, which will be used as the platform for the project with Black Sage Technologies.
The ISV Multi-Mission and Logistics Variant will be modified to carry a Sawtooth C-UAS. (GM Defense)
The plan is to install a version of the Black Sage Technologies Sawtooth C-UAS (Counter-Unmanned Aerial System) into the truck.
The Sawtooth C-UAS has technology that can track and take down an unmanned aerial vehicle. (Black Sage Technologies)
Images of the proposed vehicle have not been released, but the Sawtooth is equipped with drone-tracking tech, a "non-kinetic" RF emitter that can disable drones with radio waves and also automated small arms that can shoot the aircraft down, if necessary.
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"Our teaming agreement with Black Sage helps us offer greater flexibility to warfighters while continuing to develop mobility solutions that perform in diverse environments," GM Defense president Steve duMont said. "This collaboration enables GM Defense and Black Sage to leverage the synergies of our respective companies, extend battlefield capabilities and showcase solutions that can drive mission readiness."
A timeframe for testing the vehicle has not yet been released.
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GM Defense has delivered over 300 ISVs to the US Army so far and has received a full production order that could result in 2,593 vehicles being supplied over the next eight years.