GM Defense LLC, a subsidiary of General Motors, announced Steve duMont as its new president, while also celebrating the official opening of its new production facility in Concord, North Carolina, where it will manufacture the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), a light and agile all-terrain troop carrier for the U.S. Army. The ISV is based on the award-winning 2020 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize truck architecture and features 90 percent commercial-off-the-shelf parts, including Chevrolet Performance race components proven to perform under tough off-road conditions.
The new 75,000-square-foot plant includes some of the latest manufacturing tools, including a digital operating system utilizing Bluetooth-enabled tools to meet U.S. Army requirements with extreme precision. The advanced tools will help ensure the highest level of quality while enabling greater efficiencies throughout the ISV build. Now the newest and one of the most advanced production lines for tactical wheeled vehicles, the GM Defense Concord facility will support ISV full rate production.
One such example of leveraging GM’s strengths in manufacturing is GM Defense’s new Concord production facility. In just over 90 days – from the start of construction to the start of vehicle production – GM Defense has demonstrated its fast-to-field capabilities by standing up a state-of-the-art tactical wheeled vehicle manufacturing center. The facility will build ISVs in support of a $214.3 million U.S. Army contract award. The Army has an acquisition objective of 2,065 vehicles for the Infantry Brigade Combat Teams.
The Concord production site is just minutes from Hendrick Motorsports, which is responsible for providing the chrome-moly steel exoskeleton of the vehicle frame, including the GM Defense-designed Roll Over Protection System. GM Defense also has a teammate in Ricardo Defense, which leads the Integrated Product Support, including technical manual development, new equipment training, provisioning, total package fielding and field service support for the ISV. The ISV helping to eliminate the traditional march of wars past and providing rapid mobility to the fight on nearly any battlefield.
