Currently, the U.S. military and the Department of Defense was in the process of replacing the HMMWV or Humvee, because they were being fielded in situations they were not designed for, such as taking on small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades, and improvised explosive devices.

[6] The ULTRA AP weighs only 8,900 pounds, has fuel efficiency six times greater than a Humvee, and was designed and built within a matter of months.

The Ultra AP includes race car technology from NASCAR engineers like multipoint safety harnesses and shock-absorbing seats mounted on Skydex, which is used to cushion the outfield walls of baseball stadiums.

[8] The ULTRA concept had its vehicle genesis on the US Army TARDEC COMBATT Program, sponsored by the National Automotive Center.

Michael Dudzik (GTRI) and David McLellan were principals in the early transition of the COMBATT achievements to the ULTRA platform.

ULTRA was able to build upon the COMBATT results and explore revolutionary designs in the integration of armor and chassis systems for increased survivability.