The UK Ministry of Defence’s Land Mobility Programme (LMP) aims to deliver modern mobility vehicles for the British Army and Joint Force.
The programme is structured around three main vehicle classes: the Light Mobility Vehicle (LMV), which will replace Land Rover and Pinzgauer; the Light Protected Mobility (LPM), designed for transporting light loads; and the Medium Protected Mobility (MPM), intended to replace legacy platforms such as the Mastiff, Ridgeback, and Wolfhound, with an Initial Operational Capability (IOC) planned between 2029 and 2030. The budget for the LMP is £2.2 billion over its first ten years.
Team LionStrike has been established between GM Defence, BAE Systems, and NP Aerospace, offering high-capability, commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) platforms while ensuring in-country assembly and important UK industrial benefits.
Its proposal to the UK MoD for its Land Mobility Programme now includes three General Motors vehicles. The GM Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), a light, agile, and air-transportable troop carrier derived from the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 pickup truck, is designed to provide infantry combat teams with rapid mobility across complex terrain. The ISV has been adopted by the armed forces of Canada and was selected for the United States Army in 2020.
The Chevrolet Silverado Light Duty pickup, equipped with the 3.0-litre Duramax turbodiesel, offers strong low-end torque with proven capability to tow up to 6,804 kg and carry a payload of 1,000 kg for demanding work over long distances, and is proposed for the LPM vehicle.
For the MPM requirement, Team LionStrike is offering the Silverado Heavy Duty equipped with a 6.6-litre Duramax turbodiesel V8. The 2500HD version can tow up to 9,997 kg and carry 1,860 kg of payload, while the 3500HD single rear wheel model extends the capability to nearly 10,000 kg of towing and over two metric tonnes of payload. The logistics load space is also ample, suitable for NATO pallet transportation.
Critically, the spacious internal capacity provides ample room to transport personnel along with the kit and equipment needed by modern warfighters.
Gilbert Nelson, Vice President of International Sales and Marketing at GM Defence, stated, “Our foundation is commercial, off-the-shelf technology with a proven track record of quality, durability, and capability that can be OEM-adapted to meet emerging requirements. That’s how we will rapidly enhance the operational readiness of the British Armed Forces and reduce the cost and complexity of equipping, training, and deploying troops.”
by David Oliver
