The United States Army wants a new, heavy-hauling truck, and the Common Tactical Truck program aims to find it. The HX3-CTT from GM Defense and American Rheinmetall Vehicles was among the four vehicles that just won a contract to supply the military with prototypes for the big rig. The other winners came from Mack Defense, Navistar Defense, and Oshkosh Defense.
The HX3-CTT has an interchangeable, protected cab and can support drivetrains from 4x4 to 10x10. It has advanced driver assistance systems, but the company isn't outlining the exact tech, yet.
Gallery: HX3-CTT Truck Proposals
The HX3-CTT uses the existing American Rheinmetall Vehicles HX3 truck as the starting point. The company sees this as an advantage because US allies like Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark already have the truck in their fleets. This would allow for integrated operations and a common global supply chain.
There's a lot of money on the line for this project. The company that wins the project could supply as many as 5,700 trucks at a value of around $5 billion. A final selection is still years away, though. The next step comes in early 2024 when these companies each need to supply three prototypes to the Army for evaluation.
The current trucks in the Army's fleet are aging and lack modern safety tech. The Common Tactical Truck program aims to find a replacement vehicle with advanced driver assist systems, improved, fuel efficiency, and predictive maintenance. Also, it needs to be ready for autonomous driving when those systems are viable.
GM Defense already has a $214.3-million contract to build 2,065 examples of the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV). The model shares architecture with the Chevrolet Colorado pickup. It can carry nine soldiers. Power comes from a 2.8-liter turbodiesel engine with 186 horsepower (139 kilowatts) and 369 pound-feet (500 Newton-meters) of torque.
The video below showcases the existing version of the HX3 but not the CTT version:
