Ford is looking to reenlist in the Arsenal of Democracy.
The automaker confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that it has secured a contract with the Department of War to supply it with three tactical truck prototypes based on the F-Series Super Duty it said will “demonstrate the value Ford can provide the Army and soldiers.”
Ford was a major defense supplier from World War 2 until 1990, when it sold its Ford Aerospace division to Loral. The automaker was instrumental in the development and production of the original “Jeep” along with aircraft, missiles and other defense systems. Some of its production vehicles have since been converted into military vehicles by outside companies, like the Ranger-based Light Mobility Vehicle developed by General Dyanmics and Ricardo for the U.K. military.
General Motors and Utah’s BC Customs landed similar contracts as the military looks to leverage America’s automotive production capability to provide it with cost-effective vehicles. BC Customs specializes in purpose-built special operations vehicles today.
GM Defense currently supplies the U.S. Army with the midsize Chevrolet Colorado-based Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) and has shown an ISV-Heavy prototype based on the Silverado HD. More than 1,000 ISVs have already been delivered and the program may be expanded to a 10,000 truck order worth $1 billion.
GM has also partnered with Lockheed Martin to explore how they can work together on the manufacture of other defense platforms.
“The collaboration reflects growing demand for greater production capacity, supply chain resilience and manufacturing agility across the defense sector,” GM’s said. “By combining commercial and defense expertise, the companies aim to identify opportunities that can accelerate production timelines while maintaining the quality, performance and reliability standards required for mission-critical systems.”
A timeframe for the reveal of the heavy duty trucks has not been announced.
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