GM Defense has completed production of the first vehicles in support of the Diplomatic Security Service’s Heavy-Duty armored Sport Utility Vehicle (HD SUV) program. DSS is the law enforcement and security arm of the U.S. Department of State. GM marked the milestone event with Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Gentry Smith and other key stakeholders at GM Defense’s Concord, North Carolina-based Manufacturing and Customer Innovation Center. GM Defense’s HD SUV solution, the Suburban Shield, features a new design with a unique body-on-frame chassis and suspension to support increased vehicle weight and performance requirements. The vehicle includes a high percentage of proven commercial-off-the-shelf parts from General Motors’ global supply chain, including the body, exterior, propulsion, interior, and brakes, for added reliability.
“Our Suburban Shield significantly enhances the quality, performance, and safety that is essential to the Diplomatic Security Service and provides our nation’s senior diplomats and their supporting teams a vehicle that enables their important mission for diplomacy and national security. I had the opportunity to try out the prototype. It had good acceleration, handled better in the turns and the heavy-duty anti-lock braking system was far superior to our aftermarket vehicles. You could really feel the stability and performance in the redesigned chassis. The new HD SUV represents a new cost-effective era in the design and building of these badly needed vehicles to help us carry out our mission to ensure the safe and secure conduct of foreign policy in some of our most challenging and dangerous posts,” said Steve duMont, GM Defense president.
The business’ covert armored vehicle is based on GM’s commercial vehicle architecture designed for full-size pickup trucks and large Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV). Suburban Shield maximizes use of commercial-off-the-shelf components, including the body, exterior, propulsion, interior, and brakes. Suburban Shield features a unique body-on-frame chassis and suspension designed to specifically support increased performance requirements, higher payload capacity, and greater ground vehicle weight over commercial-grade SUVs. GM Defense uses advanced manufacturing tools and techniques to ensure the highest level of quality and to realize cost efficiencies and flexibility, while helping the production team stay on schedule. GM Defense won the contract to support DSS’ next generation HD SUV last year. The program is intended to support DSS, in addition to more than a dozen other federal agencies.
GM Defense is the military product subsidiary of General Motors, headquartered in Concord, North Carolina. The original GM Defense was founded in 1950, and acquired by General Dynamics in 2003. This later became part of the General Dynamics Land Systems division. In 2017, General Motors announced the company’s return to the defense industry. It focuses on defense industry needs with hydrogen fuel cell and other advanced mobility technologies. GM Defense projects include SURUS (Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure), an autonomous modular platform joint project with the United States Army. The exceptional reliability of GM Defense’s technologies results from decades of proven performance and billions of dollars spent in independent research and development by its parent, General Motors, a world leader in global design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. With more than 180,000 employees globally, GM sold 7.7 million vehicles on six continents in 2019, generating $137 billion in revenue.
