GENERAL DYNAMICS OTS PHOTO
GROUND MOBILITY
Vehicle] variant that was going to meet our needs. So we ended up down that road.” Noting that “a big driving factor” of the GMV 1.1 program was MH-47 internal transportability, he added, “We also have unique to this platform a center drive capability that provides enhanced driver situational awareness as well as added security from having two side passengers that can operate in the gunner positions. “The current contract is with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and Flyer Defense. We are in full rate production on that vehicle, which also includes an Army-directed requirement to procure and field an Army variant, a modified version of our SOCOM variant, a nine-passenger-type vehicle that’s fielded to their infantry brigade combat teams. So that was a big one for SOCOM. The Army is also buying a number of vehicles for our USASOC [U.S. Army Special Operations Command] Special Forces components and helping to ensure that we’re getting the guys what they need,” he said. He noted that 2018 witnessed the first deployments of the GMV 1.1s, which led to “some solid praise downrange with its improved off-road vehicle mobility as compared to the aging fleet that we’ve got downrange. There has been positive feedback there.” Kittinger said that the program focus is now shifting toward capability upgrades on GMV 1.1, citing examples ranging from lightening the load through the use of lightweight armor to the implementation of some sort of hybrid electric propulsion design. “We have dedicated funding in FY 20 and 21 for that [hybrid electric] capability,” he said. “At the moment, it’s very loosely defined. What does hybrid electric mean to SOCOM? And that’s what we really have to figure out with our operators. So, during the course
The GMV 1.1 improves upon the mobility of the GMV 1.0 and is internally transportable in an MH-47.
of the rest of this fiscal year, we intend to start doing a case study or an analysis of alternatives to go through things like whether that means fully electric, a series hybrid, or some combination of something else. And we will explore the tradeoffs of each. We have got to do that with our operators to better inform their requirements, so we can execute those dollars in FY 20. So you’ll see us moving into that. Some of that may be ‘Fed Biz Opps’ opportunities. Some of that may be via industry collaboration events at our SOFWERX facility in Tampa. We’re still trying to define what that’s going to be.” Another production system involves the Non-Standard Commercial Vehicle (NSCV). The NSCVs are provided by Battelle Memorial Institute at an annual rate of approximately 70 vehicles per year under a contract that runs through FY 23. Kittinger said that initial emphasis on producing modified Toyota vehicle platforms was recently expanded to include a modified Ford design, adding, “We are AOR [area of responsibility] dependent on what vehicle types we [deploy], but obviously trying to blend in with the local populace.” “This capability has been around in SOCOM for almost 15 years, probably starting in the mid-2000s,” he said. “It’s a heavily modified commercial vehicle enhanced with armor, electrical mods, SOF commo [communications] radio packages, and electronic countermeasure packages.” He acknowledged that unique SOF demands on these platforms include “a very aggressive payload and a very aggressive off-road
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