The Army is in the hunt for lightweight expeditionary all-terrain vehicle that can pack a nine-man squad and associated combat equipment.
Dubbed the Infantry Squad Vehicle, or ISV, the Army is seeking to procure nearly 651 of the highly mobile lightweight vehicles spanning fiscal year 2020 to 2024, according to a special notice posted by the Army in February.
The Army is seeking input from industry leaders about the best way to procure these vehicles.
And one competitor for this new infantry vehicle is the Polaris DAGOR, a version of which has been fielded with the 82nd Airborne since 2016, according to Mark McCormick, the senior director for Polaris government and defense.
Polaris, with their partner SAIC, responded to the Army’s April request for proposal for its new Infantry Squad Vehicle, McCormick said.
The DAGOR is the largest of the Polaris family of military vehicles, which includes the smaller MRZRs already fielded by the Army and Marine Corps.
The vehicle can be sling loaded by the Army’s UH-60 Black Hawks, or internally transported by CH-47, and it can be airdropped by C-130 or C-17, McCormick told Army Times.
Variations of the DAGOR can be configured to haul smaller four to five man special operations teams on a multi-day mission, or carry a nine-man infantry squad, according to McCormick.
The vehicle is designed with high clearance that aids the vehicle in operating in austere environments, McCormick explained.
The DAGOR already matches much of the requirements the Army detailed in its Sept. 2018 market questionnaire for industry leaders. That questionnaire was posted to the government’s business opportunities site known as FedBizOpps.
“The ISV is envisioned as a lightweight, highly mobile open cab vehicle,” the posting reads. “Survivability will be achieved through high mobility, a roll cage and occupant restraints.”
A special notice posted to FedBizOpps in February said the Army plans to award a prototype contract to up to three vendors by Aug. 20, 2019, with a production award contract for one vendor by March 31, 2020.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
