Analysis: AAV7 - remaking a legacy
The LVT-7 (Landing Vehicle Tracked) when first fielded by the US Marine Corps in 1972 was vast improvement over its predecessor the LVT-5. It was more mobile on land, faster in the water, better armed, simpler to maintain and more reliable.
Its purpose, the same as the LVTs that came before, was to bring marine infantry ashore from naval ships through the surf, reefs and sandbars to the beach so they could secure it for the following waves of regular troops.
In the mid-1980s the long time designation LVT was changed to Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV). This was
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