On the Dash:
- GM Defense unveiled an unmanned Silverado 3500HD concept at the AUSA annual meeting.
- The truck carries up to 8,000 pounds, and GM plans to demonstrate the technology in June 2027.
- The Army’s planned Infantry Squad Vehicle requirement has grown from about 649 to nearly 12,000.
GM Defense, a subsidiary of General Motors (GM), unveiled an unmanned ground vehicle concept built on the Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 12.
The truck uses a dual-rear-wheel skateboard architecture and is designed for silent logistics and casualty evacuation. The company is targeting functional trials in 2027.
The vehicle can carry up to 8,000 pounds and supplies 102 kilowatt-hours of onboard energy from Ultium-based battery technology, Defense Daily reported. GM also said that an internal combustion engine with a power take-off charges the battery system and provides export power.
GM Defense has no scheduled date to deliver a platform for Army testing, Pete Johnson, the company’s vice president of business development for integrated vehicles, told Defense Daily. He said a technology demonstrator will be ready by June 2027.
The unit on the show floor was integrated with AeroVironment’s Locust X3 laser weapon system. Johnson said the platform is modular and can host other payloads, with counter-drone missions among the most important.
GM Defense also said the Army’s planned requirement for the Infantry Squad Vehicle has grown from about 649 vehicles to nearly 12,000. The company self-funded development of the Infantry Squad Vehicle Utility prototype and delivered seven early prototypes to the Army at no cost, the release said. The five-soldier variant is expected to field across 39 active-duty and National Guard mobile brigades.
The Department of War modified GM Defense’s contract by $697.7 million in September to fund engineering changes to the Infantry Squad Vehicle Utility variant. That raised the contract’s cumulative value to about $915.6 million.
GM Defense President Steve duMont said the company applies GM’s engineering, supply chain and manufacturing scale to Army needs.
