U.S. Army Awards Prototype Contracts for Heavy Infantry Squad Vehicle to Ford, General Motors, and BC Customs

At a Glance

• The U.S. Army awarded contracts to Ford Motor Company, General Motors Defense, and BC Customs on June 30 as part of its Heavy Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV-H) upgrade program, the military confirmed via email to Manufacturing Dive on Monday.
• The three companies will each develop three ISV-H prototypes for competition. Expected capabilities include traveling 62 miles in eight hours with the fuel tank only three-quarters full. Contract requirements also include repair rights and data provisions.
• Initial prototype deliveries are scheduled for March 30, 2027. Following delivery, the Army Test and Evaluation Command will assess and test the vehicles. The competition winner will receive a contract to produce more than 600 ISV-H units for the military.

Deep Dive

Automakers are entering the defense industrial base after months of President Donald Trump urging car manufacturers to participate in ammunition production, with discussions beginning before the Iran war, the Wall Street Journal reported in April.

The president met with automakers again in June to discuss converting their factories for weapons production, CBS News reported.

Ford's subsidiary, Industrial Platform, will develop prototypes based on the heavy-duty Super Duty truck model, Ford President and CEO Jim Farley said during a July 21 earnings call. He did not further comment on the Army contract but added that Ford is in ongoing discussions with the U.S. government on other defense-related projects.

"We do believe we can provide a lot of value, but we will consider it as an adjacent business," Farley said. "It has to be a strong business with good returns and good return on capital."

For General Motors, the Army contract builds on its June agreement with weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin to strengthen domestic manufacturing and the defense industrial base.

"Our shared goal with GM is to explore applying the automotive industry's high-rate manufacturing and supply chain expertise to defense production," Lockheed President and CEO James Taiclet said during a July 23 earnings call. "We hope this effort will give us greater access to the speed and scale of the U.S. commercial industrial base, thereby significantly accelerating output when demand grows."

GM is also working with other unnamed companies to "expand the speed, scale, and resilience of the defense industrial base," Chair and CEO Mary Barra said during a July 21 earnings call.

"We are focusing on strengthening supply chain management, improving manufacturing readiness, and expanding production capacity to better serve the U.S. and its allies," Barra said. "Over time, all of this should make GM Defense a more meaningful and more diversified contributor to our earnings."

GM is also "building momentum" with other government customers, including the U.S. State Department, the Secret Service, and agencies in Canada, Qatar, Brazil, and "other allies." In May, GM received a $220 million contract to build a lunar terrain vehicle for NASA.

Barra added that the company expects its defense subsidiary to grow to nearly $700 million in 2026 while working to build a backlog. GM expects GM Defense to achieve a compound annual revenue growth rate of over 30% in the coming years, "with double-digit margins." This includes the ISV-H contract, which is expected to exceed $1 billion based on Army requirements.

GM is divesting some defense- and aerospace-related businesses. For example, the automaker and aircraft manufacturer Boeing are selling their joint research venture HRL Laboratories to IBM for an undisclosed amount. HRL was founded by Howard Hughes in 1948 as Hughes Research Laboratories.