AAV7A1 (LVTP7)

The LVTP7, later redesignated AAVP7A1, is the tracked amphibious landing vehicle that the US Marine Corps adopted to replace the LVTP5. It had to carry Marines and supplies from ship to shore and onward overland, faster and with better protection than its Vietnam-era predecessor.

Design

Most of the design work was done by the Food Machinery & Chemical Company (FMC) by about 1966, and the first prototypes arrived for trials in summer 1967. The hull is welded aluminium, with the engine (originally a GM diesel) at the front centre, front sprocket drive, and a large troop ramp at the rear. In the water the vehicle is driven by two water jets at the stern as well as by its tracks. The crew of three (driver, assistant driver and vehicle commander) sit forward, and a troop commander and 24 Marines sit on three rows of benches in the rear compartment, boarding through roof cargo hatches when afloat or through the ramp on land. The commander has a raised, rotating weapon station on the right with an M85 .50 calibre machine gun; FMC built 998 of these turrets between 1970 and 1974.

Upgrades

A service life extension programme between 1982 and 1986 produced the LVTP7A1, with a Cummins VT400 multi-fuel diesel, an all-electric weapon station, engine smoke generation, passive night vision, improved fire suppression and ventilation, secure radios and a bow plane. From 1984 the Marine Corps renamed it the Assault Amphibious Vehicle, Personnel, Model 7A1 (AAVP7A1). The Upgunned Weapons Station, carrying both a .50 calibre M2 machine gun and a 40 mm Mk 19 grenade launcher, began appearing from 1987. Enhanced appliqué armour (EAAK) from RAFAEL was delivered by 1993, and later updates brought new diesels and Bradley-derived suspension parts.

Variants

Besides the personnel carrier there were command (LVTC7/AAVC7A1) and recovery (LVTR7/AAVR7A1) versions. The archive pages concentrate on the interior of the personnel vehicle, photographed largely at NAS Jacksonville and Camp Pendleton.