Three teams competing for US Army's ISV programme

The US Army has selected three teams to develop infantry squad vehicle (ISV) prototypes to transport soldiers and their heavy loads across the battlefield.

The service announced on 23 August that it was awarding General Motors Defense, Oshkosh Defense, and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) each with USD1 million contracts to produce two ISV prototypes. Each team is slated to deliver their offerings to the service in November for continued soldier assessment, testing, and evaluation ahead of a final contract award in March 2020. If all goes as planned, the army will then purchase a total of 651 vehicles by the end of 2024.

For its ISV bid, SAIC has teamed up with Polaris Government and Defense, with a proposal based off the latter’s deployable advanced ground off-road (DAGOR) combat vehicle. DAGOR is a small family of vehicles designed to provide forces with mobility and off-road capabilities. The standard DAGOR vehicle is equipped for small teams, is armed, and provides the space for the team’s personal equipment. Under the plan, SAIC is tasked with systems engineering and integration work.

“Polaris designed the DAGOR to provide the very capability the army ISV programme is asking for,” Jed Leonard, vice-president for Polaris Government and Defense, told Jane’s on 27 August.

“The DAGOR delivers off-road mobility while meeting the squad’s payload demands, all within the weight and size restrictions that maximize tactical air transportability,” he added.