the classic and reliable M2 .50-caliber heavy machine gun, with a simple reticle gunsight. A thousand rounds of belted ammunition are stowed in two-hundred-round cans which can be reloaded internally. The improved turret of the LVTP-7A1 is powered by an electric motor rather than a hydraulic drive, and supplements the M2 machine gun with a stubby 40mm Mk. 19 automatic grenade launcher with ninety-six belted rounds as the basic load. Eight externally mounted smoke-grenade launchers can deploy a dense white obscuring cloud over a wide arc in a matter of seconds. A switch on the driver's panel can also be activated to dump raw fuel into the engine exhaust manifold, which generates dark obscuring smoke, at the cost of very high fuel consumption.
On land, the AAV-7 can reach a maximum speed of 45 mph/72 kph. It can climb a 3-ft/.9-m vertical obstacle or cross a trench 8 ft/2.4 m wide. In addition, it can climb an astonishing 60 % grade and negotiate a 40 % slide- slope without tipping over. At 25 mph/40 kph, the maximum endurance is 300 mi/483 km. The driver has an AN/VVS-2 night-vision device, an electro-optical image intensifier, or 'starlight scope,' that amplifies even the weakest light. On water, the maximum speed is rated as 8 mph/13 kph, but this assumes a calm sea. The AAV-7 is not, however, limited to placid waters; it can operate in higher sea and surf conditions than any other landing craft used in the world's amphibious forces. Theoretically, the AAV-7 can cruise for up to seven hours at 6 mph/9.6 kph, but Marine doctrine, based on considerations of fatigue, control, and navigation, prescribes a run-in to the beach of no more than an hour. An efficient bilge pump serves to keep the crew compartment dry, even in rough seas. Standard navigation equipment is limited to a crude magnetic compass, but today many vehicles have a GPS receiver added to their equipment fit.
In an assault from the sea, Marine platoons will typically embark on their AAV-7s inside the docking well of amphibious transport such as an LPD, LHD, or LSD. The transport will then flood its ballast tanks and open the stern gate, creating a gentle incline for the amtracs to crawl down into the water. They then turn on their water jets and head for the beach. The goal of the amtrac unit is to deliver its passengers safely as close as possible to the objective, where they will dismount and secure the area. The amtracs might then return to their mother ship to pick up a second wave of Marines, or a load of supplies — up to five tons of food, ammunition, and equipment. Note that the amtrac with its driver and gunner 'belong' to an amphibious tractor battalion, while the passengers will generally be an embarked Marine infantry platoon belonging to a rifle company. During Desert Storm, most Marine platoons stayed with the same amtrac for the four days of the ground war, using them just like conventional armored personnel carriers.
On dry land, the AAV-7 has severe tactical shortcomings, mostly because of its large size and limited armor protection (in Kuwait, the amtracs were supported by LAVs and main battle tanks). By itself, the AAV-7 is terribly vulnerable to enemy anti-armor weapons, since its thin aluminum armor was designed only to keep out small-arms fire and shell fragments. A bolt-on Enhanced Applique Armor Kit (EAAK) has been developed, which adds several thousand pounds of weight, but defeats the Soviet KPV 14.5mm armor-piercing machine gun, which is carried by many threat helicopters, light armored vehicles, and heavy weapon teams. One of the greatest threats to the crew of an armored vehicle is fire resulting from the penetration of a rocket-propelled grenade or anti-tank guided weapon. The amtrac now carries an automatic fire-suppression system, which combines super-fast-acting infrared sensors with quick-discharge bottles of Halon, an inert gas that snuffs out the fire before the fire can snuff out the crew. In practice, combat vehicles usually spend much of their time in battle with the engine idling, to keep the batteries charged and the radio operating while they wait for orders. The standard vehicle has three secure voice radios; but a special command version has six VHF, one UHF, and one HF set, plus a ten-station intercom system. Very soon, it will be fitted with the new SINCGARS-series radios, which will greatly improve the range and quality of communications for the big craft. As currently planned, the fleet of AAV-7s will have to serve about another fifteen years until the arrival of the new Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle, which is currently under development. Until roughly 2006, they will have to hold the line, and continue doing their uncomfortable, dangerous job.
The Future: The Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV)
A quiet little program run out of an office building in Arlington, Virginia, will provide a replacement for the long-serving AAV-7s. The Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) is going to be the world's most advanced armored fighting vehicle, with capabilities previously undreamed of by Marines, or by soldiers of any nation. Our story begins back in the late 1970s when the Marines began to reevaluate their doctrine for forced entry amphibious operations. Ever since 'Brute' Krulak took the first unit of amphibious tractors out on their evaluation trials, higher speed through the water has been a desired goal. There even was a stillborn program, the Landing Vehicle Assault (LVA) back in the 1970s, that was designed to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, the technology to achieve the lofty requirements of the LVA specification simply was not there, and the program was terminated in 1979.
Now, you did not need to have a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering back then to figure out that the nature of naval warfare was changing. These changes, though, did not invalidate the high-speed amphibious tractor requirement. On the contrary, it was being rapidly confirmed by current events. One look at any one of a dozen trade publications would have shown you the variety of weapons and systems being developed to attack surface vessels from ships, subs, planes, and shore bases. In short, the closer an amphibious task force approached an enemy shore, the more dangerous it was getting. Take, for example, the British experience in the Falklands War of 1982: In less than a month of amphibious and support operations, the Royal Navy lost two destroyers, two frigates, a pair of landing ships, and a container ship to Argentine air and missile attacks. Several times this number were damaged. The lessons were made clear for the whole world to see: Put yourself within visual range of a hostile shore, and you'll get shot with weapons that will likely hit you and hurt you.
If the Falklands experience was bad, everyone who dealt with such matters knew that the future was going to be worse. They knew that within a few years, you would need to stand away from an enemy shore and deliver your forces from a long distance if your large amphibious forces were to survive. Thus, the Marines and Navy began to develop new ships and delivery systems that would allow a greater standoff from the shoreline during amphibious operations. The Marines' part in this revolution in amphibious warfare doctrine is centered around three systems. The first of these was the LCAC, which allowed the amphibs to stand over 50 nm/91 km from the shoreline. Following the LCAC will be the MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft, which is designed to replace the CH-46E Sea Knight. With greater speed, range, and payload (by roughly 300 %) than the Sea Knight, it allows a ship like the Wasp (LHD-1) to stand over 200 nm/366 km offshore and still put its cargo ashore in about an hour. The final system designed to exploit standoff from the beach will be the AAAV.
The AAAV is designed to move at speeds over 25 kn/45 kph, so that the ship that launches it can stand over the visual horizon from the beach. And that's very good. But more important, the AAAV is going to be the finest armored IFV ever built, better even than the Army's M2/3 Bradley fighting vehicle. This is a tall claim for a system that has just had its prime contractor (General Dynamics, Land Systems) selected, but you have to understand the Marine Corps' approach to a design problem like this one to appreciate why. To repeat something I've said before: The technology base of the Marines is very narrow and specifically tailored to the missions of the Corps. Well, the technology elements of the AAAV fall into just that category, which means that the Corps has invested much of its hard-fought research and development (R&D) budget in the AAAV effort. Now, you might ask what it takes to give a high-performance IFV the characteristics of a high-speed powerboat. Well, the following is a list of some of the systems that had to be developed to make the AAAV possible:
• High-Speed Hull—Over a series of fifteen years, a series of high-speed-planing-hull designs has been developed to test the feasibility of the AAAV concept. Through the use of three subscale test models (built by AAI Corporation), a basic design utilizing a retractable bow flap, which acts like a surfboard, has been settled upon as the basis for the AAAV design. Called 'Skimming Bricks,' they are providing a solid database of experience with which to develop the AAAV hull.
• Dual Mode Propulsion System—The AAAV will be equipped with an incredible 2,600-hp MTU/Detroit Diesel turbocharged diesel engine. Sealed as a self-contained power unit, it will last up to nine years,
