GM Defense company announces a new contract with the U.S. government to develop and produce 10 new heavy-duty Chevy Suburban HD SUVs. The contract is worth $36.4 million and production is scheduled to begin in 2022. If things work out, then the U.S. government may purchase more of these big heavy-duty SUVs (perhaps up to 200 of these per year for 9 years).
GM Defense LLC is a subsidiary of General Motors. GM Defense is tasked with building unique military or government vehicles. The company recently was awarded a $214 million contract to build new Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISVs) that are based on the Chevy Colorado ZR2 platform.
The U.S. government has been using heavy-duty Suburban SUVs for many years in the past. These were the heavy-duty versions of the civilian Chevy Suburban or the GMC Yukon XL. Anybody could buy an HD Suburban in the past, some even had Qudrasteer four-wheel steering systems. These big, spacious, and capable SUVs were very attractive to government agencies because of their higher payload capacities. These SUVs can be armored and still carry a lot of equipment and/or people.
GM Defense says that the new government-spec HD Suburbans will use a unique body-on-frame construction and unique suspension to satisfy the payload and ground clearance requirements. The company did not say what will power these new Suburbans.
I am guessing these HD Suburbans will use GM’s latest Silverado HD frame and chassis. This comes with a solid rear axle, independent front suspension, lots of payload or towing capacity, and potentially a 6.6-liter Duramax V8 engine with a 10-speed automatic transmission. I am guessing that the government agencies will prefer the turbo-diesel application for these vehicles.
Here is a look at the last generation of the government-spec 2017 Chevy HD Suburban.
You can read more about the Chevy Suburban HD at the GM Defense website.
Here is our recent Chevy Suburban real-world towing test at the Ike Gauntlet™ – the world’s toughest towing test.
