US Army infantry soldiers secure their rucks in the cargo netting on the roof of the ISV after it was airdropped at Fort Bragg during operational testing. (US Army )
The US Army plans to continue buying its new Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) in 2023 but will delay a full-rate production decision until later in 2022 – a move the service had previously cautioned may occur because of the sequence of testing events.
The White House delivered its fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request to lawmakers on 28 March and the army included USD34 million for ground mobility vehicles, also known as the ISV. If army leaders receive the full pot of money, it will be USD10 million less than Congress approved in this year's spending bill. However, lawmakers did exceed the army's initial request by adding USD12 million to the FY 2022 spending bill.
The ISV fleet will be used to ferry nine soldiers and their equipment in austere environments, including initial entry and offensive operations. The vehicle is based on GM Defense's Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize truck, and can be transported via a CH-47 Chinook helicopter and airdropped by the C-17 Globemaster and C-130 Hercules aircraft. A January 2022 report by the Pentagon's chief weapons tester found the ISV was inadequate for ferrying soldiers around in dangerous combat zones and pinpointed several problems that need to be addressed. The service told Janes that it is working with the prime contractor to fix these deficiencies but reiterated that this air-droppable vehicle was not designed to be a combat fighting platform.
Rae Higgins, a spokesperson for the Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, told Janes
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