Truck nerds love regular cab pickups, but what about pickups without any cab at all?
GM Defense is converting the Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD into a fully autonomous platform it will be developing for the U.S. Military to consider. The Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) retains the front end of the dually truck with the engine compartment, but loses the passenger compartment to create a long flatbed. GM plans to equip it with Scout AI’s self-driving technology, which allows for drive-by-wire and fully autonomous capability.
The vehicle is being designed with an 8,000-pound payload capacity and can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including as a weapons platform or personnel evacuation vehicle. It can also be equipped with a 102 kWh battery pack to provide power in the field, Defense Daily reported.
“What you see here with our Unmanned Ground Vehicle is a direct reflection of how we listen to the Army and how we pay attention to the changing character of warfare. We’re watching closely the developments in Ukraine, the Middle East and how the Army is organizing to campaign in the Indo-Pacific. And all of those observations are pointing to a very clear need: more robotic and autonomous capability to deliver operational effect and to reduce risk for our soldiers. GM Defense is ready to help the Army move in that direction by bringing the speed, scale and innovation of the commercial sector to bear on the defense mission,” Pete Johnson, GM Defense’s vice president of business development for integrated vehicles said during the vehicle’s presentation at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington, D.C.
GM Defense is aiming to have a UGV demonstrator ready for testing next June, which will be just a year after the project originated.
GM Defense specializes in using of-the-shelf components to deliver military equipment at scale and relatively low cost. Its Chevy Colorado-based Infantry Squad Vehicle has been so successful that the U.S. Army has ordered 12,000 of them, following an initial run of 649.
