The Flyer Advanced Light Strike Vehicle platform has been developed by

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Un ...

Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), in partnership with Flyer Defense LLC, for the

U.S. Special Operations Command The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Arm ...

(SOCOM) Ground Mobility Vehicle Program. The Flyer Advanced Light Strike Vehicle platform configurations are the Flyer 72 and the narrower Flyer 60.

Design

The Flyer was designed to fill a need by special operations forces to have a lightweight, mobile platform that could be transported by air and be configured for a variety of missions. It can be internally transported by

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

CH-53E Super Stallion The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, ...

CH-47D Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Ch ...

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally des ...

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of tw ...

and

C-5 Galaxy The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-ran ...

, and be externally transported by UH-60L Black Hawk. The vehicle can operate at high speeds at long ranges, off-road and in various weather conditions. It can be configured for many roles including light strike, personnel rescue and recovery, reconnaissance, and communications. The Flyer has a fuel efficiency of 24 mpg at 40 mph. Weapons can be mounted on a 360 degree ring or five patient litters can be carried.Flyer brochure
- General Dynamics It also has an armored variant, with the 4-door cab, rear cargo area, and roofline armored to ballistic level B6.

Flyer 72

The Flyer 72 is in service in the United States Special Operations Command as the

M1288 GMV 1.1 The M1288 GMV 1.1 is a U.S. Special Operations Command light utility vehicle based on the General Dynamics Flyer 72. The GMV 1.1 replaces the Humvee-based Ground Mobility Vehicle (USSOCOM). History In June 2012, the SOCOM requested proposal ...

. It was selected in 2013 to replace SOCOM's fleet of 1,072

Humvee The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ...

-based Ground Mobility Vehicles. 1,300 are planned to be in service by September 2020. The

United Kingdom Special Forces The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces ...

(UKSF) received a Flyer 72 in 2014 for testing under Project Westerly, a program to evaluate vehicles for the potential replacement of their Supacat HMT400 Surveillance and Reconnaissance Vehicle/Offensive Action Vehicles that entered service in 2003. General Dynamics offered modified Flyer vehicles to the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

for their 'Ultra Light Combat Vehicle' (ULCV), since renamed the

Army Ground Mobility Vehicle The M1297 Army Ground Mobility Vehicle (A-GMV or AGMV), previously just GMV, and formerly called the Ultra Light Combat Vehicle (ULCV), is a U.S. Army airdroppable light off-road vehicle for light infantry brigades. The A-GMV is produced by Gener ...

(AGMV), and Light Reconnaissance Vehicle (LRV) programs. The Special Forces Flyer 72 version had SOF-specific items removed and more seats added to meet ULCV requirements for a weight of and a payload, equal to nine soldiers and their gear. For the LRV, the Flyer 72 could have armor added, carry six troops, and mount an

M230 chain gun The M230 Cannon is a 30 mm (30×113 mm), single-barrel electrically-driven autocannon, using external electrical power (as opposed to recoil or expanding gas generated by the firing cartridge) to cycle the weapon between shots. It was desi ...

. In May 2018, the Army awarded GD-OTS the contract for production of Army Ground Mobility Vehicles. A consortium of

Oshkosh Defense Oshkosh Corporation, formerly Oshkosh Truck, is an American industrial company that designs and builds specialty trucks, military vehicles, truck bodies, airport fire apparatus, and access equipment. The corporation also owns Pierce Manufact ...

and Flyer Defense LLC submitted the Flyer 72 for the U.S. Army's Infantry Squad Vehicle competition. This contract was won by a consortium of

GM Defense GM Defense is the military product subsidiary of General Motors headquartered in Concord, North Carolina; focusing on the defense industry needs with hydrogen fuel cell and other advanced mobility technologies. GM Defense projects include SURUS ...

and Ricardo plc, which submitted a vehicle based on the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2.

Flyer 60

On 21 October 2013, General Dynamics was awarded a SOCOM contract for non-developmental V-22 Internally Transportable Vehicles (ITV). The three-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract is for up to 10 vehicles, with integration and logistical support and training. The total value of the contract is $5.8 million if all options are exercised. The basic difference between the and is width – at vs. respectively. They share the same engine, suspension, transmission, and electrical systems. The seats only four, with a length of , a height of , curb weight of , and payload of .

Operators

* -

UKSF The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces ...

: 1 on test * -

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is th ...

: Flyer I, 4+ for 1st Raider–Paratrooper Brigade,

1st Infantry Division 1st Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) *1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) *1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoured Division (Australi ...

* -

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

: Flyer III, 9 + 18 on option for

9th Paratroopers Assault Regiment 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

"Col Moschin" (SF) * - SOCOM: 1,300 planned * UAE operating GD-OTS Flyer vehicles

References

External links