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 fifth largest in the Unit ...

Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), in partnership with Flyer Defense LLC, for the U.S. Special Operations Command (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-use, tiltrotor military transport aircraft, military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed ...

, CH-53E Super Stallion, CH-47D Chinook,

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

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

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-rang ...

, 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 10.2 km/L (24 mpg) at 64 km/h (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.

Variants

Flyer 72

The Flyer 72 is in service in the United States Special Operations Command as the M1288 GMV 1.1. 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 Military light utility vehicle, light, four-wheel drive Military vehicle#Military trucks, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It ...

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

United Kingdom Special Forces 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 A ...

(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 primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

for their 'Ultra Light Combat Vehicle' (ULCV), since renamed the Army Ground Mobility Vehicle (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 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: 1 on test * -

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

: Flyer I, 4+ for 1st Raider–Paratrooper Brigade, 1st Infantry Division * -

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

: Flyer III, 9 + 18 on option for 9th Paratroopers Assault Regiment "Col Moschin" (SF) On January 30, 2024, more Flyer 72s are planned to be purchased in a €229.6 million (US$248.4 million) programme approved by the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

. * - SOCOM: 1,300 planned * UAE operating GD-OTS Flyer vehicles * -

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF): Dozens of Flyer 72 vehicles, named "Beeri," were acquired in late 2023 during "Operation Swords of Iron" to replace damaged armored vehicles after the

October 7 attacks On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

.תכירו את "בארי": הג'יפ החדש של צה"ל שיכול לעשות הכל
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References

External links

AUSA 2014 IHS Jane's speaks to General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems about their Flyer vehicle - YouTube video

Manufacturer's page
{{Post-WWII US Soft Vehicles Military trucks of the United States Special operations commands of the United States Armed Forces General Dynamics land vehicles Military vehicles introduced in the 2010s Post–Cold War armored fighting vehicles of the United States Vehicles designed for aircraft carriage