The US Army unveiled the demonstrator for the Infantry Squad Vehicle programme, drawing parallels with the legacy Humvee line of armoured pickup vehicles.
GM Defense's Next Generation Tactical Vehicle, used by the 4th Infantry Division for the Ivy Sting IV exercise, is a candidate for a new line of light armoured vehicles sitting between the fast attack vehicles and the heavier 4x4 tactical armoured vehicles like JLTV.
The US Army stated that the new demonstrator can carry six personnel and has onboard power generation to support different payloads.
Being a pickup with said capabilities, the demonstrator showing parallels with the legacy Humvee vehicle is understood to be envisioned to carry equipment such as UAVs or light weaponry on its flatbed section as a rapidly configurable and cheaper type of armoured vehicle.
This shows that the US Army has taken notes on the use of pickups used in different conflicts, where they have been fitted with a variety of weaponry (Machine guns, rockets, missiles), thanks to the available space. As one could expect, adaptation of the idea in an organised manner includes additions such as the aforementioned auxiliary power generation and improved protection.
Ukraine has introduced this idea in the field with the Novator armoured pickup, based on the Ford F-550 chassis with protection against small arms and a generous flatbed section that usually accommodates manual or remote-controlled ATGM launchers.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor:Özgür Ekşi
