Back to news

June 30, 2020 | International, Land

GM Defense wins Infantry Squad Vehicle production contract

By:

WASHINGTON — The Army has awarded GM Defense a $214.3 million contract to produce the service's new Infantry Squad Vehicle.

The contract covers the cost of the first 649 vehicles, with work to be completed by June 24, 2028. The service hopes to eventually procure 2,065 of the ISVs.

"Winning this Army award is well-deserved recognition for the hard work and dedication of our GM Defense team and their production of a fantastic vehicle. We are confident the GMD ISV will meet and exceed all of our customers' requirements," David Albritton, president of GM Defense, said in a statement. "It's indeed an honor to leverage our parent company's experience as one of the world's largest automotive manufacturers to design, build and deliver the best technologies available to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and our allies."

The ISV, designed to carry a nine soldier squad, was specifically put together to be light enough to be sling loaded from a UH-60 Blackhawk and small enough to fit inside a C4-47 Chinook, to provide maximum flexibility for deployment.

GM's design is based off the company's 2020 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize truck and use 90 percent commercial parts, according to the company, including a 186-horsepower, 2.8L Duramax turbo-diesel engine.

The attempt to procure a light infantry vehicle goes back to 2015, but nothing truly materialized until Congress forced the Army to launch the competition as part of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. Last August, the Army awarded $1 million contracts to three teams — GM Defense, a team-up of Oshkosh Defense and Flyer Defense LLC, and a SAIC and Polaris team-up — to develop their offerings for the ISV program.

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/06/29/gm-defense-wins-infantry-squad-vehicle-production-contract/

On the same subject

  • GA-ASI and L3Harris Technologies Successfully Integrate WESCAM MX-20 onto MQ-9

    March 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    GA-ASI and L3Harris Technologies Successfully Integrate WESCAM MX-20 onto MQ-9

    San Diego – March 4, 2020 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and L3Harris Technologies completed the successful integration of the WESCAM MX™-20 Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR) system onto a GA-ASI MQ-9 Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) to provide an advanced targeting solution. A series of test flights began on February 18th to demonstrate the MX-20-equipped MQ-9's ability to locate and track targets at long stand-off ranges. “The GA-ASI and L3Harris teams have worked closely over the past year to ensure the successful integration of this sophisticated system,” said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI. “This is a significant milestone and we look forward to the enduring relationship and growing opportunities with L3Harris WESCAM.” When integrated onto the MQ-9 Predator® B series of RPAS, the WESCAM MX-20 EO/IR system will support Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Precision Guided Munitions (PGM) missions. Field-proven through multiple deployments, the WESCAM MX-20 is equipped with high-sensitivity multi-spectral sensors for day, low-light and nighttime missions. The WESCAM MX-20 operates with outstanding detection and recognition capabilities from ultra-high altitudes. “L3Harris is proud to partner with GA-ASI to deliver sophisticated technologies for persistent surveillance missions and evolving battlefields,” said Jacques Comtois, General Manager, WESCAM, L3Harris. “Being a Team SkyGuardian partner allows us to support our technology's modular growth path with unprecedented levels of innovation and business opportunities globally for leading unmanned aircraft system programs.” GA‑ASI is the world's leading designer and manufacturer of RPAS and mission related systems. Team SkyGuardian combines the best of industry with the world's most advanced Medium-altitude Long-endurance (MALE) RPAS, the MQ-9B SkyGuardian, being developed to fulfill the world's future RPAS requirements. About GA-ASI General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator® RPA series and the Lynx® Multi-mode Radar. With more than six million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit ga-asi.com. SkyGuardian, Predator and Lynx are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. For more information contact: GA-ASI Media Relations General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. +1 (858) 524-8108 ASI-MediaRelations@ga-asi.com View source version on General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.: http://www.ga-asi.com/ga-asi-and-l3harris-technologies-successfully-integrate-wescam-mx-20-onto-mq-9

  • Israel’s Rafael integrates artificial intelligence into Spice bombs

    June 19, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Other Defence

    Israel’s Rafael integrates artificial intelligence into Spice bombs

    By: Seth J. Frantzman and Kelsey D. Atherton Rafael Advanced Defense System's Spice bombs now have a new technological breakthrough as the Israeli company enables its Spice 250 with artificial intelligence alongside automatic target recognition to be used with scene-matching technology. The Spice 250, which can be deployed on quad racks under the wings of warplanes like the F-16, has a 75-kilogram warhead and a maximum range of 100 kilometers with its deployable wings. Its electro-optic scene-matching technology — which involves uploading terrain data onto the bomb and combining it with real-time electro-optic imagery — allows the weapon to work in GPS-denied environments. And the bomb can use this autonomous capability to navigate and correct its location, according to Gideon Weiss, Rafael's deputy general manager of marketing and business development at the company's air and C4I division. With its AI and “deep learning” technologies, the weapon has the ability to identity moving ground targets and distinguish them from other objects and terrain. This is based on 3D models uploaded to the bomb as well as algorithms. As the weapon identifies and homes in on its target, such as a convoy of vehicles, it separates the convoy of interest from other vehicles it has “learned” to ignore. “The deep-learning algorithm is indifferent to the actual data fed to it for modeling targets of interest and embedding their pertaining characteristics into the system," Weiss said. "However, the more the data used for modeling is representative of the target of interest, the more robust the recognition probability will be in real life.” Rafael has completed the development and testing phase of the Spice 250, including flight tests, which have “proven the robustness of the ATA and ATR, so it is mature for delivery,” Weiss said, using acronyms for automatic target acquisition and recognition. Asked if the ATR algorithm will select a secondary target if the computer cannot find the initial human-selected target, Weiss said: “This goes into the area of user-defined policies and rules of engagement, and it is up to the users to decide on how to apply the weapon, when and where to use it, and how to define target recognition probabilities and its eventuality.” Automatically selecting a secondary target may eventually become part of the upgrade profile for the munition, if customers express significant interest in the feature. With a two-way data link and a video-streaming capability, the bomb can be aborted or told to re-target up until a “few second before the weapon hits its target,” Weiss explained. That two-way data-link, enabled by the weapon's mounting on a Smart Quad Rack, or SQR, will enable future deep learning to be based on data extracted from earlier launches. Data recorded will include either live-streaming video or a burst of still images of the entire homing phase up until impact. “These are automatically and simultaneously recorded on the SQR — enabling two functions: (a) real-time and post-mission BDI (Bomb Damage Indication); (b) post-mission target data extraction for intel updates, etc.," Weiss said. "The ATR capability, including its deep learning updates, must be more agile than the enemy's ability to conceal and/or change its battlefield footprint, tactics, appearance or anything else which might impede the ATR from accurately recognizing and destroying targets.” The Spice family of weapons is operational with the Israeli Air Force and international customers. https://www.defensenews.com/artificial-intelligence/2019/06/17/israels-rafael-integrates-artificial-intelligence-into-spice-bombs/

  • UK firm supports Ukrainian armed forces in drone tech race

    March 27, 2024 | International, Aerospace

    UK firm supports Ukrainian armed forces in drone tech race

All news