Polaris Defense announced it will start shipping its newest, lightweight combat vehicle next month.
The Polaris DAGOR, short for Deployable Advanced Ground Off-Road combat vehicle, was developed to meet a need for a combat-utility vehicle, light enough to be sling-loaded into battle from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, Rich Haddad, general manager for Polaris Defense, at the Association of the United State Army’s 2014 Annual Meeting and Exposition.
The U.S. Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Ga., reached out to the defense industry earlier this year to see if it could build the new Ultra Light Combat Vehicle -- a new effort to equip infantry brigade combat teams with go-anywhere vehicles capable of carrying a nine-man squad.
Polaris officials are planning to start ship the new DAGOR vehicles to U.S. and foreign special operations forces in November, but said the company plans to pursue a big-Army contract to make ULCVs if the service opens a competition.
The DAGOR has a curb weight of 4,500 pounds and a maximum capacity of 3,250 pounds. It has a turbo-diesel, JP8 engine capable of a 500-mile range.
“It will carry a nine-man squad and all their gear,” Haddad said. “It’s bare bones; there is no armor on it, but it is designed to accept armor.”
From a support perspective, spare parts are readily available through a number of commercial vendors, Haddad said.
“It was designed specifically to be easily maintained,” he said. “The guys can do all their maintenance in the field right in their battalion shops.”
