Marine Corps Sprucing Up Its Light Armored Vehicles.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold
• Position: Brief Article

While the Army steps up its search for a combat vehicle that can be deployed quickly for use in small-scale conflicts and peacekeeping missions, the Marine Corps is working to upgrade and extend the service life of just such a platform that it has employed for the past 16 years-- the Light Armored Vehicle (LAV).

The LAV has become a cornerstone of the Marines' strategy of expeditionary warfare, which the Corps has employed practically since its founding in 1775, according to the vehicle's program manager, Marine Col. Thomas M. Lytle, based in Warren, Mich. "We wouldn't go anywhere without it," Lytle told National Defense.

The LAV--manufactured by General Motors Defense of London, Ontario--is a wheeled, combat vehicle with eight-wheel drive (8x8), he explained. It is capable of traveling in rugged terrain, cruising at more than 60 mph on roads and crossing rivers, streams and lakes in amphibious operations. With a combat weight of 14 tons, it can be loaded easily on to air transports, such as the C-130, C-141 and C-5, or helicopters, such as the CH-53E.

The LAV's relatively light weight makes it possible to deploy the vehicle quickly for use in rapidly developing combat situations, Lytle said. This is in sharp contrast to the 70-ton Abrams, which is the main battle rank for the Army and Marines, but is so heavy that it can't be loaded on to most air transports.

As a result, Lytle noted, it was the LAV that accompanied the first U.S. troops into harm's way in deployments such as Kosovo, Somalia and the Persian Gulf. On such missions, the LAV has performed "extremely well," he said.

Currently, Lytle explained, the Marines have 771 LAVs. They come in eight variants, including:

* LAV-25, armed with the 25 mm chain gun, enabling it to penetrate armored, as well as soft targets.

* LAV-C2, stuffed with communications equipment, permitting it to serve as a mobile command station.

* LAV-AT, outfitted with TOW II antitank missiles capable of destroying heavy armor at long distances.

* LAV-M, equipped with 81 mm mortars to provide indirect fire support to light infantry and reconnaissance troops.

* LAV-L, providing logistical support, including ammunition, rations and fuel supplies for front-line armored vehicles.

* LAV-R, outfitted with a boom crane, winch, welder and flood lights to help recover disabled vehicles under combat conditions.

* LAV-MEWSS, equipped to provide mobile electronic-warfare support--including signals acquisition, direction...