Say you need to quickly get elite fighters into and out of hostile territory for critical missions. What type of vehicle do you design for the task? If you’re General Dynamics Land Systems – and trying to secure a contract to supply the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) with a vehicle that meets its demand for “transportability, mobility, modularity and technology” – it would look like the Ground Mobility Vehicle (GMV 1.1).

General Dynamics Land Systems submitted a proposal for the program and delivered the sample vehicle to USSOCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida, on May 30. According to General Dynamics Land Systems, the GMV 1.1 meets the four criteria mentioned above by fitting inside fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, rolling off air transport ready to fight in less than minute, performing on- and off-road, and adapting to existing Pentagon technologies. And it can also be accessorized with additional armor.

The GMV 1.1’s center-mounted engine is designed for optimum weight distribution while being transported by aircraft. “The GMV 1.1 is a mission-ready vehicle and weapon employment is within 60 seconds of deploying from a strategic lift,” Tommy Pruitt, communications director for General Dynamics Land Systems, told Wired.

Photo: General Dynamics Land Systems

The GMV 1.1 also meets the requirement of Special Ops Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconaissance (C4ISR) technology and a computing architecture to “maximize modularity and enable future adaptations for evolving requirements.” General Dynamics Land Systems claims its experience with C4ISR systems on the Abrams tank, the Stryker armored vehicle and other military vehicles makes the GMV 1.1 quickly configurable for a range of special ops missions and environments.

Pruitt noted that add-on armor kits “enhances survivability depending on the operational needs and threat conditions.” He also said that the GMV 1.1’s top speed of about 90 mph and it can carry up to five full-armed fighters.

General Dynamics Land Systems claims the GMV 1.1 underwent extensive two-year testing to validate the vehicle’s design and performance and passed user trials at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona and the Nevada Automotive Test Center. It also went through systems reliability trials during a summer in the United Arab Emirates.

USSOCOM plans to acquire up to 1,300 vehicles for special ops missions requiring easy air transportability, weapons capacity and high mobility. Contract award is estimated by January 2013 with production anticipated to begin in 2013 and ending mid-2020.