GM’s Duramax Diesel Powering Military’s Humvee Replacement
The United States military is getting a replacement to the trusty Humvee. Called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, it’s state-of-the-art technology designed to be effective on the battlefield while keeping our troops safe. When it comes to powering this beast, the US military is putting their trust in General Motors.
The JLTV is powered by GM’s 6.6L Duramax V8 diesel engine. It’ll be built to military specifications, but as a point of reference the civilian version makes 397 horsepower and 765 lb-ft of torque. Details of changes, if any, to the military version are currently unknown, and presumably classified.
This has the potential to being a pretty lucrative deal for General Motors, because the contract the company building the vehicle has with the government allows for up to 55,000 of these vehicles to be built. That means, as part of the first contract, GM could have to supply up to 55,000 of their Duramax diesel engines.
General Motors isn’t new to military contracts or to building and powering military transport vehicles. We wouldn’t be surprised if that track record is the reason why they’re being used still today.
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via [Automotive News]
