{"id":18572,"date":"2019-01-07T22:09:38","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T22:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/07\/the-aging-marine-lav-is-still-active-across-the-corps-and-now-is-also-a-museum-piece\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:44:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:44:37","slug":"the-aging-marine-lav-is-still-active-across-the-corps-and-now-is-also-a-museum-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/01\/07\/the-aging-marine-lav-is-still-active-across-the-corps-and-now-is-also-a-museum-piece\/","title":{"rendered":"The aging Marine LAV is still active across the Corps … and, now, also is a museum piece"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Corps\u2019 Light Armored Vehicle<\/a>, or LAV, has been rolling around since the 1980s and is still active across the force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now, the aging vehicle has recently been inducted as a museum piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Museum of the Marine Corps took delivery of an LAV-25 in December for inclusion in future galleries that are still under construction and expected to open at the end of 2019 or early next year, according to Gwenn Adams, a spokeswoman for the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Corps maintains a suite of aging legacy ground vehicles<\/a> that are becoming outmatched on the modern battlefield, which has pushed the Corps to rapidly upgrade or replace its aging fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LAV remains one of the oldest vehicles still in use by the Corps, though still younger than the assault amphibious vehicle, or AAV, which is more than 40 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Corps already has entered into a contract with BAE to replace its tracked AAV with the eight-wheeled amphibious combat vehicle, which will come with modern capabilities and weapon systems to help it survive in a future conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Corps has yet to pick a replacement for its LAV, but actively is on the hunt for one. It is known as the advanced reconnaissance vehicle, or ARV, and Corps officials have been tight-lipped about its development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An official at the Office of Naval Research, the office overseeing the ARV project, said that it\u2019s still ongoing, but couldn\u2019t provide any details on the progress of the new armored vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Corps did lay out some of its wish list for the new modern armored vehicle at an industry event in January 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to that briefing, the Corps is in search for a future LAV that can fight and survive in a highly contested environment \u2014 a battlefield the Corps could fight on as it competes with rising adversaries across the globe like Russia and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marines from 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, drive to a checkpoint during Cold Response 14, a multinational and multilateral exercise in northern Norway that brings together nearly 16,000 servicemembers from 16 different nations. The initial stages of the exercise presented an unpredicted obstacle to overcome with temperatures being warmer than expected, causing wet and windy conditions that gave Marines the challenge of staying dry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That means the ARV will need to come with a host of communications and networking equipment, electronic warfare and modern armaments to match more tech adept forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Briefing slides from the industry day event show the Corps wants its LAV to be able to jam, detect and carry out electronic warfare. It also wants the ARV to be able to control a swarm of drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for fires, the new ARV could be armed with the XM813 30mm Bushmaster Cannon, according to Marine Corps briefing slides. Some Army Stryker vehicles have already fielded the 30mm weapon system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current Marine LAVs are equipped with the 25mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for size, the Corps appears to want the vehicle to stay roughly the same size, so that four vehicles can be transportable by the Navy\u2019s Landing Craft Air Cushion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not much information is available about the Corps\u2019 new ARV, and the slides from the industry day brief made publicly available are now a year old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Corps waits to replace the legacy LAV, the aging vehicle has undergone a series of modernization efforts to boost its lethality and survivability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such upgrade armed the LAV with an automated turret system capable of firing TOW anti-tank guided missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. Marines with 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion participate in a live-fire event using the new Light Armored Vehicle Anti-Tank (LAV-AT) weapon system at Camp Lejeune, N.C., April 10, 2018. (Lance Cpl. Elijah J. Abernathy\/Marine Corps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The model variant is known as the LAV-AT, and it just made its European debut <\/a>as the Corps kicked off a massive training exercise in Norway, Trident Juncture, which kicked off late October 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the LAV wasn\u2019t the only vehicle inducted into the museum in December. The National Museum of the Marine Corps also took delivery of the Oshkosh M-ATV \u2014 an all-terrain vehicle resistant to IEDs seen with U.S. service members operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That vehicle will be part of the historical gallery reflecting on the Corps\u2019 participation in conflicts since 9\/11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis spring we\u2019ll open the continuation of our timeline, which will include our 9\/11 exhibit, Marine families, transforming the Corps and more,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These galleries are part of the museum\u2019s Final Phase project that will include historical galleries focusing on the Corps\u2019 activities post-Vietnam War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#2018Highlight<\/a> – The LAV-25 and M-ATV arrive at the Museum for installation in the Final Phase historical galleries. pic.twitter.com\/hLwyEewX1s<\/a><\/p>— U.S. Marine Corps Museum \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@USMCMuseum) January 1, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote>