San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
NEW AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE SET TO DEPLOY
Marine Corps making long awaited upgrade from Vietnam-era troop carrier
As disciplinary hearings continued last week at Camp Pendleton for Marine Corps officers involved in the deadly sinking of an amphibious vehicle in 2020, a new type of amphibious troop carrier splashed into the chilly Pacific waters at the west end of the base and the service prepared for its first deployment.
The Amphibious Combat Vehicle, or ACV, has been in development for years as a replacement for the Vietnam War-era Assault Amphibious Vehicle, commonly called an AAV, or “amtrack.” The service’s need for new amphibious transports was brought to the forefront in July 2020 when the 35-year-old amtrack sank off the coast of San Diego, costing the lives of eight Marines and a sailor.
On Thursday, the Marines of 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion, alongside troops from the Japanese Ground Self-defense Force, took their ACVS into the sea for the first time since the service halted all waterborne amphibious operations in December. The Corps at that time pulled
AAVS from waterborne operations permanently, barring any crisis or other need; they continue to serve on land. The new ACVS also were pulled from waterborne use, after an issue with their tow ropes was found. That’s been corrected, the Marines said, and operations resumed a week ago.
Maj. Justin Davis, the operations officer for the battalion, called the ACV an “evolutionary improvement” over the AAV. ACVS will replace AAVS over the next decade as the Corps plans to buy hundreds of the vehicles.
“As far as force protection,” Davis said, “there’s really just no comparison at all. The ACV is far superior to the AAV in respect to the protection and armor it provides Marines.”
Unlike the AAVS, which had bench seats for troops, Davis said, the ACV is equipped with individual blast-attenuating seats to protect Marines from