GM Defense launches silent vehicle as Humvee heir

Quickly emerging from the dense foliage, a truck rounds a curve onto a gravel road, but the only sound is the crunch of gravel under the tires and the occasional crunch of a rock hitting the underside.

The truck is a new hybrid vehicle that GM Defense developed to show the Army what is possible for a Humvee-like capability that meets the needs of modern warfare. The Army does not yet require a new Humvee, or high-mobility wheeled multipurpose vehicle, or anything else to replace the 40-year-old vehicle with 50-year-old technology.

But the Humvee, while a longtime workhorse of the Army, is becoming an increasingly unsafe platform. Rollovers have plagued the fleet, resulting in an increase in deaths from accidents in recent years, which has led to the implementation of some safety measures. The Army has replaced some Humvees with the newer Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, but the service wants to keep a slightly smaller Humvee-like vehicle in its inventory, scaling back plans to bet on JLTV in the vehicle size segment.

GM Defense has designed what it calls the Next Generation Tactical Vehicle by taking the Chevy Silverado truck and the same Duramax engine used in the U.S. Army Infantry Squad Vehicle and combining it with an electric battery capable of producing about 300 kilowatts. -hour of power and a 15-gallon fuel tank.

“Think about the technology that was the basis of the Humvee,” said JD Johnson, vice president of business development for GM Defense, in a recent interview at General Motors Milford Proving Ground. “The automotive industry has come a long way from this and our soldiers deserve (more), not just for drivability and performance, but for the ability to support all of their diverse missions.”

Silverados roll off the production line every 54 seconds. The company added an offroad package to the truck and maximized commercial-out-of-the-box capabilities, according to Pete Johnson, vice president of business development for integrated vehicles at GM Defense.

GM also integrated “a myriad” of different advanced technologies from some of its electric vehicle programs, including the Hummer EV, and incorporated lessons learned from its rapid and successful production of the Infantry Squad Vehicle, which used a Chevy chassis. Colorado, Pete Johnson added.

While the vehicle still utilizes an engine now familiar to U.S. soldiers, it incorporates energy storage and the ability to use that energy to propel and power other systems to improve the Army from both an operational and sustainment standpoint, Pete Johnson said. .

Due to the electrical power capabilities, the vehicle can operate with low thermal and acoustic signatures.

“If you look at Ukraine, the fighting that’s going on right now, one of the risks is that if they find you, they could kill you,” Pete Johnson said. Ukrainian soldiers began evacuating victims from the front lines with non-tactical vehicles because they were quieter than military vehicles, the company learned from those on the ground, it added.

GM’s new ride technology allows for quiet driving, Pete Johnson said, meaning the vehicle is able to power systems without idling the engine. In the vehicle, the driver can switch between “silent mode” and normal engine mode by pressing a button.

The electric battery also helps lower battery requirements for units on the battlefield. The Army went from one platoon carrying about 48 pounds of batteries in Desert Storm and Desert Shield to carrying 1,200 pounds of batteries. “It’s unreal how much kit now requires power,” said Pete Johnson.

The company has also incorporated instant torque technology that allows for effective and agile offroad capability, according to Pete Johnson. The project reduces sustainment burdens and logistics tails because hybrid electric vehicles use fewer parts and less fuel and other batteries on the battlefield, he added.

The company also took security into consideration in several ways, Pete Johnson said. “We are disheartened every time we read an article where a soldier, Marine, sailor is killed by a rollover…but we are using the best modern technology…and we are building integrated rollover protection systems,” he said.

The Infantry Squad Vehicle already has this capability.

While electronic stability control and anti-lock brakes are present in all vehicles produced since 2012, “there are almost no military vehicles that have this,” said Pete Johnson. While the Army is applying add-on kits to Humvees, that DNA is embedded in the proposed next-generation tactical vehicle, he said.

The vehicle is transportable on C-130 and C-17 aircraft and can be carried by a CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter or an MH-53 King Stallion helicopter.

GM Defense is displaying the vehicle at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington. The floor model incorporates a Kongsberg remote weapons station, a Lockheed Martin Javelin anti-tank missile launcher and a Drone Buster to counter threats from unmanned aircraft systems in the rear, along with a tethered Hoverfly drone for reconnaissance.

“All of this is a platform that really wouldn’t be possible to do today” with vehicle onboard power sources, Pete Johnson said.