Light Armored Vehicle

Marines Look Beyond LAVs as Recon Roles Expand

Sgt. David Seeley, a squad leader with Battalion Landing Team 3/4, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and a native of Dunwoody, Georgia, walks past a light armored vehicle (LAV) at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan on Feb. 8, 2021. Marine Corps Photo

Marines are rethinking how the service does reconnaissance beyond its traditional light armored vehicles as part of the ongoing Force Design 2030 effort, officials said last week.

With more unmanned systems on the market and the Pentagon continuing a...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/20/marines-look-beyond-lavs-as-recon-roles-expand

Marines Look to EPFs, ESBs as Interim Solution for Light Amphibious Warship

Expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) departs Naval Base Guam, passing the MSC expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) and marking the start of Pacific Partnership 2019. Navy photo

WASHINGTON D.C. — With the Light Amphibious Warship delayed by several years, the Marine Corps is looking to ship classes already in the fleet as an interim solution to move Marines around the Indo-Pacific.

The Marine Corps’ annual Force Design 2030 update, released on Monday,...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/10/marines-look-to-epfs-esbs-as-interim-solution-for-light-amphibious-warship

Fewer Marines, More Sensors Part of Berger’s Latest Force Design Revision

Marines with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment (1/2), 2d Marine Division, board a KC-130J Super Hercules at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona, April 22, 2022. US Marine Corps Photo

THE PENTAGON – Reducing the Marines to 175,000 and adding more sensor capability to smaller units are part of a wide swath of adjustments the Marine Corps is pursuing in the latest iteration of its modernization drive.

Released on Monday, the Force Design 2030 annual report is the Marines’ latest refinement of plans to...

Marines Committed to New Force Design, Despite Criticism From Retired Generals

Marines board the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) via landing craft, air cushion, March 21, 2022. US Navy Photo

The Marine Corps’ top requirements officer on Wednesday defended the service’s modernization overhaul against recent criticisms that the Marines are on the wrong path.

Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, the deputy commandant for combat development and integration, acknowledged that the Marine Corps has not successfully communicated its Force Design 2030 efforts.

“I clearly...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/04/marines-committed-to-new-force-design-despite-criticism-from-retired-generals

Top Stories 2021: U.S. Marine Corps Acquisition

U.S. Marines with 1st Marine Logistics Group, return fire during a convoy training exercise in Camp Pendleton California. Oct 7, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo

This post is part of a series looking back at the top naval stories from 2021.

The Marine Corps this year continued its journey to meet Marine Corps commandant Gen. David Berger’s strategic vision for the force by pursuing systems to enable the service’s Force Design 2030 goals.

With a focus on operating in the vast region of the Indo-Pacific,...

https://news.usni.org/2021/12/27/top-stories-2021-u-s-marine-corps-acquisition

Textron, General Dynamics, BAE in Hunt to Build New Marine Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle

A Light Armored Vehicle attached to 4th LAV Battalion, 4th Marine Division, sits on the horizon during exercise Trident Juncture 2015 in Almería, Spain, Oct. 30, 2015. US Marine Corps Photo

The Marine Corps is evaluating three pitches for the vehicle that will replace its fleet of 1980s vintage light armored vehicles, the service announced last week.

Textron and General Dynamics Land Systems were tapped by the service to build prototypes for its Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle while BAE Systems...

https://news.usni.org/2021/07/19/textron-general-dynamics-bae-in-hunt-to-build-new-marine-advanced-reconnaissance-vehicle

Report to Congress on Marine Corps’ Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle Program

The following is the May 13, 2021, Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Marine Corps Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV)

From the report

ARV Desired Operational Capabilities According to a Marine Corps May 2019 briefing to industry, some of the ARV’s desired operational capabilities include  an automatic medium-caliber cannon capable of delivering anti-personnel, anti-materiel, and anti-armor munitions on the move (such as the Army’s XM813 30 mm weapon system);  anti-armor...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/14/report-to-congress-on-marine-corps-advanced-reconnaissance-vehicle-program

Marines Seeking Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle Prototypes After Unsuccessful Attempts to Replace LAV

Textron’s Cottonmouth vehicle is the company’s pitch for the Marine Corps’ Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle program to replace the aging Light Armored Vehicle for recon Marines. Textron photo.

The Marine Corps has collected proposals to design and build a prototype Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle, meant to far surpass the capabilities of the legacy Light Armored Vehicle and help reconnaissance Marines observe their surroundings, find targets and even take out threats on their own.

After issuing a...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/04/marines-seeking-advanced-reconnaissance-vehicle-prototypes-after-unsuccessful-attempts-to-replace-lav

Top Stories 2019: Marine Corps Acquisition

Colored oil smoke indicates rotor wake and wind effects while external “tufts” adher to the outside of the CH-53K King Stallion showing surface airflow. These efforts validate a modification mitigating Exhaust Gas Re-ingestion for the new Marine Corps aircraft. US Navy photo.

This post is part of a series of review stories looking back at the top naval news from 2019.

The Marine Corps in 2019 continued on its path to modernize aging systems to allow Marines to move across the air, land and sea in...

https://news.usni.org/2019/12/30/top-stories-2019-marine-corps-acquisition

Marines to Begin Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle AoA This Summer to Replace LAVs

U.S. Marines with 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division prepare to move after conducting a “hot check” of their Light Armored Vehicles (LAV) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, March 29, 2019. “Hot checks” are conducted during convoys to ensure that all the vital parts of an LAV are functioning properly. US Marine Corps photo.

The Marine Corps will kick off the analysis of alternatives on its Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) this summer, after some...

https://news.usni.org/2019/05/21/marines-to-begin-armored-reconnaissance-vehicle-aoa-this-summer-to-replace-lavs

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