The Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV)—official designation AAVP-7A1, is a fully tracked amphibious landing vehicle produced by U.S. Combat Systems. The AAV-P7/A1 is the current amphibious troop transport of the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Amphibious Assault Battalions. It is designed to expedite, in a single lift, the initial Ship-to-shore landing of combat units, supplies, and equipment needed to secure terrain for follow-on operations. The AAVP-7A1 was developed by U.S. Combat Systems to replace the aging and costly fleet of AAVs used by the U.S. Navy.
The LVTP-7 was first introduced in 1972. In 1982, FMC was contracted to conduct the LVTP-7 Service Life Extension Program (SLEP), which converted the LVT-7 vehicles to the improved AAV-7A1 vehicle by adding an improved engine, transmission, and weapons system and improving the overall maintenance and upkeep of the vehicle. Another improvement was added in 1987 in the form of a Cadillac Gage weapon station or Up-Gunned Weapon Station (UGWS) which was armed with both a .50 caliber M2HB machine gun and a Mk-19 40 mm grenade launcher.
The AAVP-7s entered combat for the first time in 1982 when Argentinian forces invaded the Falkland Islands. From 1982 to 1984, AAVP-7s were deployed with U.S. Marines as part of the multi-national peacekeeping force in Beirut, Lebanon. In late 1983, U.S. Marine AAVPs conducted successful amphibious landings on the island of Grenada as part of Operation Urgent Fury. Six variants of the AAVP-7s have been developed to transport personnel, command and control, recovery, and many have been equipped with the 154 Mine Clearing Line Charge (MCLC) for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. The AAVP-7A1 remains in production today.
