GM Defense’s Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) Heavy Gun Carrier variant will be on the ground in the UAE for IDEX. Photo courtesy of GM Defense.
In this Q&A with Steve duMont, president of GM Defense, he discusses the company’s expansion plans for 2023 and beyond, new Infantry Squad Vehicle prototypes, and how internal combustion engines and electrification can coexist on the battlefield.
Q. Last year, GM Defense announced its expansion into Canada, followed by the launch of GM Defense International. Where else is the business focusing its efforts around the globe?
Steve duMont, President of GM Defense
duMont: Last year was a big year for GM Defense in terms of beginning our international expansion into global defense and government markets. Specifically, our efforts to capture programs in Canada is a strategic move that will leverage the incredible resources GM Canada provides and the ongoing investments GM continues to make in manufacturing, engineering and electrification capabilities in country.
GM Defense has access to GM Canada’s robust innovation ecosystem that includes the Canadian Technical Centre, which supports cutting-edge research and development, and an advanced test track to test electric and autonomous vehicles. Manufacturing capabilities in Canada also give us more flexibility to produce solutions for defense and government customers in friendly foreign nations.
In addition to Canada, the team has heavily focused on strengthening relationships across Europe, the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. We expanded our business development team last year by hiring experienced industry titans with proven expertise working and living in the UAE and in Europe.
After the successful showcase of our integrated vehicles, power and propulsion, and autonomy and connectivity solutions at Eurosatory last summer in Paris, we are coming in a big way to the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in the UAE. GM Defense will exhibit compelling content that demonstrates our ability to deliver advanced technologies to global customers. I invite everyone to come see for themselves at booth 03-A09, Hall 3 February 20-24.
Q. What’s your strategy to grow your business abroad?
duMont: GM Defense is focused on expanding our franchise programs such as the U.S. Army’s Infantry Squad Vehicle and is presently prototyping various configurations in order to help meet diverse mission requirements. We’re already prototyping various configurations of the ISV, originally developed as an agile and expeditionary nine-passenger vehicle with architecture based on the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 featuring 90 percent commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) parts.
We’ve developed an ISV family of vehicles that includes multiple variants, including the ISV Multi-mission and Logistics Vehicle that comes with two, four or five seats and the flexibility for integrating specialty kits, lethality and storage options based on the mission requirements.
What makes us a unique entrant into the global defense and government market is our ability to leverage and adapt GM commercial platforms such as the Heavy-Duty Chevrolet Silverado, as we plan to do in our capture efforts in pursuit of the Canadian Armed Forces’ Light Utility Vehicle program. Just as we did with our winning bid for the ISV, we are leveraging a significant amount of COTS and other systems to rapidly meet customer requirements.
Shown is GM Defense’s Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) family of vehicles. Photo courtesy of GM Defense.
Q. You mentioned that GM Defense is exhibiting at IDEX. What will you be displaying?
duMont: We are excited to bring our offerings to IDEX and showcase the realm of the possible as we leverage proven, commercial technologies from our General Motors parent to meet unique defense and government requirements on a global scale.
We want to help audiences understand the important role that commerciality plays in defense and government markets and the benefits that come along with it, such as flexibility, affordability through leveraging economies of scale, ease of maintenance and sustainment. We offer the speed, agility and scale necessary to execute the mission needs of our customers.
At IDEX, we will showcase the Infantry Squad Vehicle Heavy Gun Carrier variant, along with our Next Generation Light Tactical Wheeled Vehicle prototype based on the Chevrolet Silverado.
We’ll also be demonstrating our power and propulsion expertise by highlighting our significant electrification capabilities, including GM’s most advanced battery electric technology called the Ultium Platform, as well as the HYDROTEC fuel-cell power cube and the fuel-cell mobile power generation system.
We have incredible multimedia content, including interactive displays, to help visitors visualize our solutions in military use cases. Our vehicles will also be shown in daily off-road demonstrations.
Q. Even though you were just talking about alternative energy, you still remain a strong proponent of using internal combustion engines to meet the mission needs of customers like the UAE.
duMont: It’s not an either/or situation for us. If customers require solutions with traditional internal combustion engines, we’ll build them. GM offers some of the most fuel-efficient internal combustion engines available on the commercial market, and that’s what we use for the ISV. At the same time, we can leverage GM’s battery electric technology, like the Ultium Platform, to power hybrid or all-electric military mobility solutions. That’s in addition to fuel-cell technology that provides fast-charging capabilities. The combination of ICE, hybrid, all-electric and additional power generation gives our customers options to find the right solution to meet mission requirements.
GM Defense is much more than a truck manufacturer; we’re a technology provider bringing forward the best commercial technologies to meet our customer’s tactical needs. We’re leveraging GM’s commercial investment of $35 billion in electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle technologies through 2025 to deliver tactical electrification across military land, air and sea applications. We’re on a pathway to a more electric, connected and autonomous future, and we want to bring our customers on that journey with us.
Q. Is GM Defense looking to partner in the UAE region or in other parts of the globe?
duMont: We are looking to develop strategic collaborations that enable us to bring GM’s best practices and advanced technologies to our customers, potentially in the UAE and other regions around the world. We develop high-quality, best-value solutions that can scale to nearly any level of production, and the business has shown itself to be a trusted partner in developing advanced tactical mobility, and power and propulsion solutions.
We understand that our global customers want speed, flexibility, scalability and ease of sustainment. GM’s ongoing investments, world-class manufacturing, engineering and global supply chain enable us to deliver on all of those needs as we look to partner with like-minded organizations around the world.
