Anyone seen this?
And check out the new commanders cupola, never seen that one before.
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Interesting. I thought they had been gone for quite a few years already. I think around â20 they were no longer allowed to do amphibious ops after a few sank and some Marines died. I hadnât seen any with the CROWS turret either.
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Looks like the CROWS were fitted in 2021âŚ
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6833922/tobyhanna-contractors-install-crows-systems-marine-aavs
H.P.
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Some of them should find a new home soonâŚ
H.P.
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There must be a HB AAVP-7A1 n the stashâŚ. (starts digging)
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So, Just what are they going to replace it with? They had A Possible Replacement in Prototype, But cancelled it.
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The Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV)
In service (these belong to the 4th Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division) :
H.P.
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Hmmm, Looks like a tricked out LAV/Stryker type Vehicle; I liked the Expiditionary Fighting Vehicle(EFV) better.
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Lots of angled shapes, looks cool. No mudguards - dirt goes brrr⌠Lots of dirty modelkits ahead. 
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Holy hell, now thatâs a blast from the past! 
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The AAV7 and Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) suffered from flat-bottom hulls, meaning that they were extremely vulnerable to IEDs. The M1 Abrams is a flat-bottom hull, but the tank engineers designed a V-shaped add-on hull plate to the bottom where the driver sits. No such V-hull add-on kit exists for the AAV, and the EFV is way too low for adding any V-hull add-on. This hastened the end of the AAVs and doomed the EFV.
Gino is correct that one AAV7 sank and some Marines diedâŚthe AAVs were that old and the SLEP to refurbish them was canceled to fund the ACVs.
The ACV is V-hull and has 13 blast seats for the Marines in the back. Being V-hull, I kind of wonder if itâs easier to tip over in the surf with a side wave because itâs shaped like a top with âballoon tiresâ on the bottom.
I too didnât know that the USMC changed the cupola and added CROWS to the AAV.
I would make the AAV7s into drones and add Sierra Nevadaâs BRAWLR pedestal to fire AIMâ9s and even AIM-120 for air defense. Add the 23-shot Arnold Defense MLHS and you have C-UAS defense and direct fire support in place of the decommissioned USMC M1A1 tanks.
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Yes they are old but as I recall improper maintenance was the cause for the sinking. I think reason for subpar maintenance fleet wide was HQMC funding the program which led to the non surf orders.
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The EFV suffered from a number of strange problems that were in a GAO report. At the time, the EFV was pretty âhush-hushâ since it was such a breakthrough, but from my fuzzy memory, the EFV didnât start well in cold weather (engine issues), and couldnât navigate in the ocean to the beach in a straight line (software issues), and have no IED protection (design issues from the start because the flat-bottom hull was needed for water planing).
It did have a 30mm autocannon (now on the ACV-30) and had great speed (above 20+ knots), but I personally thought that the rear door (no ramp) was too narrow. Love it or hate it, the EFV was canceled.
I believe that the USMC was concerned about obtaining the ACV since they spent so much money on the EFV program, not to mention that the ACV was foreign designed.
The closest to the AAV7 is Turkeyâs FNSS âZAHAâ Marine Assault Vehicle although I know of zero exports.
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Whoops, the narrow rear door is a ramp. As the photo shows, itâs so cramped in there that the Marines canât carry any Javelins or place anything on the floor. The ACV is a bit better and it has blast seats suspended from the ACVâs walls to mitigate the shock of mines and IEDs, unlike the bench seats of the AAV7 and EFV.
ACV interior photo from WikipediaâŚsix seats on one side and seven on the other side. The TV monitor in the front allows the Marines to see whatâs happening outside.
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Thereâs still room for improvement (no pun intended 
)âŚ
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-amphibious-combat-vehicle-problems/
H.P.
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