As already announced in August, the U.S. Army has increased its orders for the M1301 Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISV) to nearly 12,000. This was announced by the manufacturer GM Defense earlier last week at the annual exposition of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) in Washington, DC. In 2020, the Army initially ordered 649 of the then-need of 2,065; in the 2026 budget request, a target of 9,282 had already been listed. In a Army report from August 19, it stated that, based on insights from troop trials and the Transformation in Contact initiative, the number should rise to 11,582 vehicles.
The involved units had identified a growing need for faster, lighter vehicles that can change positions before drones and precision weapons complete their target acquisition cycle, according to the report. Not least, the lessons on infantry mobility—or the lack thereof—under drone threat from the war in Ukraine are likely to play a role. Among other things, 1,700 M1301s are to be procured to supplement the airdrop-capable M1297 Army Ground Mobility Vehicle (AGMV) based on the General Dynamics Flyer 72.
M1301 and ISV variants
The M1301 is based on the chassis of the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 pickup truck and, in its basic form, carries a nine-man infantry squad. Unladen, it weighs 2.2 tons and is also air-transportable as an external load under UH-60 helicopters and as an internal load in CH-47s. It is intended to enable air-mobile operations where the troops land outside enemy defenses and then push toward the objective up to 50 miles (80 kilometers). The vehicle is a core system in the transformation of the Army’s infantry and airborne brigades into Mobile Brigade Combat Teams (MBCT).
There is now also the five-seat ISV-U (for Utility) variant with a cargo bed. As GM Defense explained at AUSA 2026, the company developed a prototype at its own expense based on feedback from the Army and provided seven of them for troop trials. The variant is now planned to be introduced in a total of 39 MBCTs of the active forces and the National Guard. Also planned is a heavy version ISV-H.
