General Motors subsidiary GM Defense LLC has won a $214.3 million contract with the U.S. Army to build the new Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV). The U.S. Army announced that GM Defense has been awarded with the production contract to build, field and sustain the new ISV, which is derived from the award-winning Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 midsize pickup truck.

GM Defense will manufacture 649 ISVs and will support the production of up to 2,065 vehicles with additional authorization over eight years. This is the first major award and delivery for GM Defense since the subsidiary was re-established by its parent company in 2017.

Designed to provide rapid ground mobility, the expeditionary ISV is a light and agile troop carrier able to transport a nine-soldier infantry squad moving throughout the battlefield. The ISV is light enough to be sling loaded from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and compact enough to fit inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter for air transportability.

GM Defense says the durability and performance of the ISV’s components have been proven in the gruelling Best in the Desert race series. The Colorado is one of only four vehicles to complete 11 consecutive races in the competition, out of a total of 434 competitors.

“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,” said David Albritton, president of GM Defense.