"The ISV-Heavy is certainly a top priority for us. We are looking to accelerate, and I do believe we are," Jesse Tolleson said Tuesday as he outlined the Army’s timeline for rolling out a heavier infantry squad vehicle designed to do more than carry a squad into battle.
Jesse Tolleson and the schedule for the ISV-Heavy
Jesse Tolleson, principal deputy of Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on Airland that the Army plans to begin releasing the request for proposals in the fourth quarter of this year. Tolleson said the service has established program acquisition executives and portfolios that are helping accelerate the effort. He also said Army officials are working closely with the requirements community to move quickly with the competition.
The Army has not immediately clarified whether Tolleson was referring to a traditional request for proposals (RFP) or a request for commercial solution proposals (RCSP); the service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that point.
Energy and power requirements for the ISV-Heavy
Beyond mobility, the ISV-Heavy is being defined principally as a mobile energy platform. The Army’s commercial solutions opening (CSO) posted in late March specified power objectives the service calls critical: vehicles that can provide 60 kW of continuous high-voltage DC power, 15 kW of 28V DC power and 4.8 kW of 120V AC power. Tolleson described a “critical capability gap” in the Army’s ability to generate exportable power and onboard power, and said the heavy ISV is intended to serve as a mobile energy source capable of powering command posts.
Commercial, non-developmental approach and the March CSO
The March CSO primed contractors to prepare commercial proposals and emphasized the Army’s preference for commercially available or “non-developmental” solutions in order to speed fielding. The solicitation asked for solutions with “minimal modifications from current commercial configurations, with the ability to incorporate future attributes in follow-on increments.” The CSO route was used in late March; the Army may follow with an RCSP or a traditional RFP, but that distinction remained unresolved in Tolleson’s testimony and the Army’s immediate public comment.
GM Defense and platform entrants
GM Defense currently provides the original ISV variant to the service — described in the record as a tricked out, militarized version of a Ford Chevrolet Colorado — and has previously announced it will offer a militarized version of the Chevrolet Silverado HD 3500 truck for the ISV-Heavy competition. It is currently unknown if other companies have entered the competition; Tolleson told lawmakers the Army expects “there’s going to be some really good competition in that space.”
What this means for GM Defense, the Army, and other contractors
- GM Defense: With an announced Silverado HD 3500 entry and an existing ISV relationship, GM Defense is positioned to convert commercial truck designs into solutions that meet the Army’s minimal-modification and rapid-fielding requirements.
- The Army acquisition community: Establishing program acquisition executives and portfolios is being presented internally as an enabler of speed; the schedule now hinges on whether the planned fall release is a traditional RFP or an RCSP and on vendors’ ability to meet the specified power outputs.
- Other contractors: The March CSO and Tolleson’s comments signal an opportunity for non-traditional suppliers with high-power vehicle systems or militarized commercial trucks to compete, provided their offerings require minimal modification from commercial configurations.
The Army’s service justification books provide concrete procurement numbers attached to that timetable: approximately 606 heavy ISVs are planned over time, with 34 to be procured in fiscal 2027. The books also say the Army is looking to award the ISV-Heavy contract in September 2027, with first delivery scheduled for the following January.
The record in Tolleson’s testimony and the Army’s procurement documents lines up a tight schedule: a fall release of a formal solicitation mechanism, a competition the service expects to be competitive, power specifications intended to close a capability gap, and a planned contract award in September 2027 with initial deliveries the next January. One clear near-term factual question remains in the public record: will the service proceed with a traditional RFP or follow the CSO with an RCSP — a procedural detail that will shape how quickly vendors can convert commercial designs into operational capability.
