Cadillac Gage Commando

The Cadillac Gage Commando is a fully amphibious 4x4 armoured car used for reconnaissance, convoy escort, riot control, security and troop carrying. Cadillac Gage built the V-100 in the mid to late 1960s. As the M706 it served mainly with US military police units, especially as a road-patrol vehicle in Vietnam, where it was used heavily but suffered frequent rear-axle failures. The later V-150 (LAV-150) was produced by Textron Marine and Land Systems; it was no longer used by the US military but was offered for export and served in some twenty countries.

Design

The hull is welded from Cadloy steel armour up to about 1/4 inch thick, proof against rifle fire, grenades and anti-personnel mines, with all surfaces angled to deflect hits. It is watertight and swims or fords without preparation. All four wheels are driven and the front wheels steer, on solid beam axles with leaf springs and run-flat tyres; ground clearance is 25.5 in. The V-100 used a 215 hp, 361 cu in Chrysler V8 petrol engine.

The V-150 has a crew of three (commander, gunner, driver) plus two troops. It is 18 ft 8 in (5.69 m) long, 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) wide and 6 ft 6 in high, and weighs 21,800 lb in combat order (24,000 lb for the longer V-150S). Quoted top speed is 55 mph on land and 3.1 mph (5 km/h) in the water, with a road range of around 500 miles.

Variants

The LAV-150ST was offered in 16 configurations, including command, recovery, mortar, TOW, air-defence and personnel-carrier versions. Armament options ranged from twin machine guns through 20 mm, 25 mm and 30 mm cannon up to 76 mm and 90 mm guns.