Goodbye, Humvee. Hello, Colorado.

[bcp]

No more GI Joe trucks: Army swaps iconic Humvee for a faster, cheaper vehicle

The Infantry Squad Vehicle is basically a stretched-out, stripped-down all-terrain vehicle with and seating for up to nine soldiers.

www.usatoday.com

"The ISV, built by GM Defense, is based on the architecture of the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize truck. The vehicle uses 90% Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) parts, including Chevrolet Performance off-road racing components."

I wonder if their will be a winter version.

Bruce

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[edzz]

So... I wonder how much it'll weigh when they get done hanging all the armor on it... and how much of a performance hit that will cause.

 

[Stomper]

No more GI Joe trucks: Army swaps iconic Humvee for a faster, cheaper vehicle

The Infantry Squad Vehicle is basically a stretched-out, stripped-down all-terrain vehicle with and seating for up to nine soldiers.

www.usatoday.com

"The ISV, built by GM Defense, is based on the architecture of the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize truck. The vehicle uses 90% Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) parts, including Chevrolet Performance off-road racing components."

I wonder if their will be a winter version.

Bruce

My unit had three M151A1 1/4-ton trucks (aka "Jeep") with pintle-mounted M60's (with a mission specific 1/4-ton trailer for our gear) per squad, three squads per line platoon, four line platoons (and one 4-squad HQ platoon) per company.....

At least that way an entire squad doesn't get taken out with one IED or drone hit.... stupid morons.

 

[gmerkt]

I'm glad to see they are getting away from expensive single unit vehicles. Since the Vietnam war, the cost per unit of light tactical vehicles has gone to the moon.

One issue I see with the proposed Colorado platform is the long wheelbase.

 

[Will_White]

I'm glad to see they are getting away from expensive single unit vehicles. Since the Vietnam war, the cost per unit of light tactical vehicles has gone to the moon.

One issue I see with the proposed Colorado platform is the long wheelbase.

its shorter then a humvee (According to Google)

 

[Will_White]

So... I wonder how much it'll weigh when they get done hanging all the armor on it... and how much of a performance hit that will cause.

with drones being how they are, it seems more important to limit exposure time then to have the extra protection. Soldiers on both sides of the Ukraine conflict are using civilian vehicles to travel more then APCs.

 

[gmerkt]

its shorter then a humvee

But longer than an M151 or M37. Of course an M151 wouldn't hold a squad. But neither will a standard Humvee.

Weapons and vehicles, the army is always trying to make them fill as many roles as possible. It doesn't always result in the best equipment for every detail but usually good for all-around purposes.

I wonder if the army plans to have some kind of a utility vehicle for less than a squad. Something more like, well, the original Jeep. It seems like this niche was never filled when the Humvee was adopted. Which burns a lot of fuel for one guy just making a PX run.

 

[MikeInOr]

Sounds like a typical Army Cluster F*** to me.

INFANTRY SQUAD VEHICLE (ISV)
The ISV was introduced in 2022. The Army has 978 of these vehicles.


Base cost per unit: $153,900
Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW): 8,200 lbs.
Acceleration (@ GVW): 0-30mph in 4.81 seconds; 0-60 mph in 15.02 seconds. (when pushed out the back of a C4 in flight.)
Curb weight: 5,000 lbs.
Payload: 3,200 lbs.
Width: 79.9 inches
Thousands of pounds lighter and $80,000 cheaper than the Humvee

Pure army intelligence: "If the Army gets drawn back into a bloody, urban fight with IEDs? We'll buy something else, the official said." I.e. We are prepared for drones and guys with clubs... our analysis shows it is highly unlikely that our future enemies will have rifles or handguns.

GM Duramax 2.8L turbo diesel L4 (LWN,) 186 hp - Not an engine I would want to own. It is a very far cry from the 6.6L Duramax that Isuzu designed, birthed, helped GM build and upgrade over the years. I liked the whole "the solders will be safer because they will be moving faster" reasoning yet the 2.8L Duramax will be a slug in a vehicle of this weight. It probably uses an upgraded car transmission instead of a true truck transmission like an Allison. A true throwback to the lousy underpowered 6.5L GM Diesels that were in the Humvee.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

A moving foxhole attracts the eye.
Andy

 

[MikeInOr]

with drones being how they are, it seems more important to limit exposure time then to have the extra protection. Soldiers on both sides of the Ukraine conflict are using civilian vehicles to travel more then APCs.

Good point, the army could easily buy 3 to 5 Chevy Colorado's for the price of 1 ISV... AND have doors and windows to deflect the pesky grenades dropped by those drones.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Something to consider with doors and window....
If you need to un-azz your vehicle in a hurry , doors and windows will slow you down..and serve as a choke point , so to speak.
Choke points are an ideal spot for enemy rifle fire , grenades etc...

And as noted above in a few posts...
No matter how mobile , agile , light , etc...something or someone is supposed to be in the Army...
The Army has a time honored tendency to hang all manner of gear and other "needed" items on it...
Negating its design and purpose for being mobile , light , etc....

I wish I had a dollar for every time we dumped and cached helmets , kevlar vests , and such ...
Only to retrieve them later after we did the job.

Edit to add...

All that said...my soldiering was done awhile ago...and we operated far away from support vehicles...
in fact vehicles were a hindrance to our existence / missions...other than the bird that would drop us off and pick us up....
So I may not be the best source here.
However...I have conducted many a ambush against vehicles...so there is that.

Andy

 

[NeoBlackdog]

After all the hootin' and hollerin' we heard about 'up armored' Humvee's now they decided to completely ditch the armor?
I, as a taxpayer, would not be opposed to having different vehicles available to our troops that can be chosen based on the mission requirements. Something light and nimble like the ISV for this mission, something more robust (like a Humvee) for that mission.

 

[arakboss]

Even this Chevy seems like a substantial upgrade compared to what many Russian invaders had/have to rely on.

 

[bcp]

After all the hootin' and hollerin' we heard about 'up armored' Humvee's now they decided to completely ditch the armor?
I, as a taxpayer, would not be opposed to having different vehicles available to our troops that can be chosen based on the mission requirements. Something light and nimble like the ISV for this mission, something more robust (like a Humvee) for that mission.

We had something light and nimble.







Bruce

 

[Andy54Hawken]

We had something light and nimble.

View attachment 2139089



Bruce

We did....However those also tended to roll over during a high speed turn.
Not sure if that was a design fault....driver error or way too much sh!t attached to it.....
( Regarding the FAV )
Andy

 

[Aught Six]

How many Jeeps could your tax dollars buy for $153.000.
The cost of one of these modern wonder wagons.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Secret Agents, Secret Armies: The Real Rat Patrol

The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and the Special Air Service (SAS) were the inspiration for a kitschy American TV show of the 1960’s.

www.nationalww2museum.org

 

[gmerkt]

Sounds like a typical Army Cluster F*** to me.

Never happen, GI.

Base cost per unit: $153,900

Oh for pity's sake. Really? GM saw the army coming on that one.

GM Duramax 2.8L turbo diesel L4 (LWN,) 186 hp - Not an engine I would want to own. It is a very far cry from the 6.6L Duramax that Isuzu designed, birthed, helped GM build and upgrade over the years. I liked the whole "the solders will be safer because they will be moving faster" reasoning yet the 2.8L Duramax will be a slug in a vehicle of this weight.

So, all the acceleration of the US Postal Service Grumman LLV with the Pontiac inline four engine. On the upside, the LLV was first fielded in 1987 with an intended life span of 24 years. They are still chugging along, well beyond their expected life in service. Of course, they haven't had to dodge any drones so far as I've heard.

 

[Old Dog]

So... I wonder how much it'll weigh when they get done hanging all the armor on it... and how much of a performance hit that will cause.

Thinking the military has concluded that mobility and speed over armor is the ticket. As some here already noted, that given our enemy's current proclivities for using EFPs and drones, the quick and nimble approach (while acknowledging there may be some "acceptable" losses) is the way to go.

'up armored' Humvee's now they decided to completely ditch the armor?

Even once we up-armored our vehicles, we continued losing troops -- and even the ones who survived getting blown up are now walking around with TBIs, PTSD and severe spinal and joint problems.

 

[gmerkt]

Secret Agents, Secret Armies: The Real Rat Patrol

The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and the Special Air Service (SAS) were the inspiration for a kitschy American TV show of the 1960’s.

www.nationalww2museum.org

Even as a teenager, I could never figure out how they got the history so screwed up on that one. The sand dunes of western Egypt and Libya were well in the rear view mirror by the time the Amis got to north Africa. To its credit, the show featured a multi-national crew to give the faulty history some cover. Multi-national = One Brit. The US never had such units in WW2.

The German captain in Rat Patrol went on to a very long US TV career, much longer than any of those other hon-yocks. His credit name at that time was his real name, Hans Gudegast. Later, he went by the name of Eric Braeden and was in TV soaps for decades.

Christopher George died at age 52, so his career was cut a bit short.

I used to think the background story for the 1943 Bogart movie, Sahara, was bogus. I.e., that he was an American advisor to the British in Libya when the US sent them tanks. But that detail is mostly real. Americans advisors were there with the tanks, but it's been said that none were involved in combat. Which may allow for some exceptions.

The multi-national crew in Sahara was truly thus. Back then it wasn't an issue of equity or equal opportunity. It was to make the movie as popular (and profitable) as it could be across a wider audience.