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Polaris Defense Submits Response For U.S. Army’s ULCV RFI

Polaris Defense - DAGOR

MINNEAPOLIS (May 12, 2015) — Polaris Defense, a division of Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) submitted a response for the U.S. Army’s request for information regarding the ULCV program. The market questionnaire had a deadline of today and is designed to help program management better understand the capabilities of manufacturers and availability of commercial products, like DAGOR™.

“Our tested and proven DAGOR vehicle is in the hands of U.S. and allied Special Forces and the feedback has been extremely positive,” said Rich Haddad, general manager of Polaris Defense. “It was designed for requirements very similar to what we are seeing materialize for the ULCV, and as a result DAGOR already represents the optimum balance of payload, off-road mobility and tactical air transportability. If we were designing a vehicle specifically for ULCV, the result would be DAGOR with a short list of accessories, which we detailed in our RFI response to the U.S. Army.”

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DAGOR made its public debut at AUSA last October with contracts from U.S. and allied Special Forces. Since its expedited deliveries started in November, U.S. and international government testing has been rigorous – and positive.

“We’ve heard from our Special Forces customers that DAGOR gets them places they have not gone in a vehicle before,” said Haddad. “It makes us very proud that the vehicle we worked hard to produce truly fills a mobility gap, and that DAGOR was – and still is – a needed capability.”

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DAGOR was designed for a mobility gap for light infantry and special operations forces. The gap could be filled with a vehicle that is easily transported by tactical air, carries enough payload to be mission effective and carries its full payload in extreme off-road terrain. DAGOR meets those requirements in a robust and flexible off-road vehicle platform that can be configured for up to 9 Warfighters. By traversing more concealed and unpredictable routes over terrain usually traveled on foot, DAGOR allows the Warfighters to move quickly to the objective with mission-critical equipment. DAGOR can also be supported with a COTS supply chain, anywhere in the world, making it easy to use and easy to maintain.

The vehicle curb weight is less than 4,500lbs to maximize tactical aircraft operational range and has a payload capacity of 3,250lbs. The width of DAGOR facilitates rapid loading into the CH-47 Chinook platform without modification and the weight allows it to be sling loaded under the UH-60 Black Hawk. The vehicle has completed certification testing for CH-47 Chinook Internal Air Transport (IAT), air drop and UH-60 Black Hawk Sling Load.

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“DAGOR looks to be a great natural fit for the ULCV requirements as they are provided today,” said Haddad. “Bottom line, DAGOR allows the Warfighter to go faster with more people and payload while enhancing their mobility and combat effectiveness over difficult terrain.”

Polaris Defense brings game-changing resources to the military in the area of off-road mobility as part of a larger, commercial company. Polaris provides a wealth of engineering, production and sustainability resources that come with being a recognized leader in the off-road vehicle industry. Polaris maintains a robust global network of dealers, distributors, and subsidiaries, providing dedicated full life-cycle support for these vehicles throughout the world. And with a proven and well-established Defense team, the company works closely with military customers to gain a thorough understanding of their off-road mobility needs.

www.polaris.com/en-us/home

25 Responses to “Polaris Defense Submits Response For U.S. Army’s ULCV RFI”

  1. bob says:

    Id like to see a pic of it loaded with 9 guys and their gear

  2. Thomper says:

    Photo 2 of the article has what you’re looking for.

  3. SN says:

    Didn’t see any mention of CV-22 compatability.

    • FormerDirtDart says:

      Why would that be an Army requirement? The Army has no CV-22s, nor has shown the slightest interest in acquiring any.

      • D says:

        AFSOC taxi service.

      • Eddie says:

        SOCOM rides in them.

        • FormerDirtDart says:

          Must be why SOCOM has their own vehicle program specifically for vehicles small enough to fit in a CV-22, to augment the ~1000 GMVs (General Dynamics’ Flyer-72) they are acquiring, which won’t fit into an Osprey either

    • Mike D says:

      The CV-22 is capable of doing things and carrying stuff? News to me.

    • Lcon says:

      Dagor is’s to big or Osprey, the door clearance of a V22 is 64 inches high by 64 inches wide DAGOR is 74 inches wide by 73 inches tall won’t fit DAGOR. has to be 60 inches max with by the same in hight to roll up that ramp. Polaris MRZR can be internally carried by V22 though but you have to take down the roll cage. there is also he GDLS Flyer 60 which is 60 inches tall by 60 inches wide.

  4. Rob Collins says:

    The unloaded weight spec = 4 wheel drive Pinzgauer, which seats 8 in the back & 2 in the front, has 14″ of ground clearance, and locking differentials. This doesn’t seem like it has the 1 ton+ payload that the Pinz does, the offroad capability etc.

  5. majrod says:

    Love the concept but the Army hasn’t thought it through enough. Ot needs to carry at least one more soldier. Carrying the nine man light infantry squad means these are going to be have to given (organic) to a battalion vs. attached. Attached allows a transportation company to be chopped to whatever Infantry BN has a mission need for mobility and ensures the vehicle will be maintained. (The Marine Corps’ approach)

    After attaching to light infantry BN a couple of times these vehicles are going to be trashed and the capability will disappear especially with tight budgets.

  6. AbnMedOps says:

    I vividly recall seeing multi-ship lifts of Blackhawks each slinging a cluster of six (6!) of the two-seat “dune buggies” at Ft. Lewis, summer 1986, during the “experimental, test-bed, light infantry division” days.

    They also tested OCIE, ballistic eye protection, ultralight aircraft (in camo fabric!), Mobile-Flex tents, HMMWV mounted infantry fire squads (with Mk-19’s!), I think they even tried out “lap-top computers”.

    I wonder if anyone ever read the volumes of AAR’s that must have been written.

  7. Armchair Warlord says:

    Y’know, I think an M1097 would fill that requirement pretty well. And we already own them.

    • FormerDirtDart says:

      Exceeds the requirement max curb weight by 1400 lbs

      • Armchair Warlord says:

        “Perfect is the enemy of good enough.”

        Especially when we have budget problems.

        • Terry B. says:

          Armchair,

          And not good enough is still not good enough.

          This DAGOR might not be the answer the Army is looking for.

          But the 1097 certainly doesn’t meet the specified requirements.

          Have you ever internally loaded any version of the HMMWV in a 47?

          If you have then you know why they are looking for something with a smaller cube.

          TLB

  8. Tounushi says:

    I remain convinced that a Tolkien fan was involved in the making of this vehicle. “Dagor” is “battle” in grey elven.