Making an armoured vehicle amphibious adds complexity and requires additional crew skills for water handling. Is there still a role for such capabilities outside the pure beachhead assault mission?

During military operations, armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) need to cross lakes and rivers and during amphibious assault must reach the shore when offloaded from a seagoing vessel... Continues below

This analysis article originally appeared in July's Decisive Edge Land Warfare Newsletter.

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While some types have an inherent amphibious capability, they can only handle calm lakes and slow-running rivers, and are unsuitable for true amphibious operations, so must be deployed by other means such as a tank landing craft or large hovercraft.

One army that still places a premium on this capability is Russia. In a legacy of the Soviet era, almost all lighter Russian AFVs, tracked and wheeled, have had a limited capability to cross water obstacles they encounter when advancing (or retreating).

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The BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) were powered in the water by their tracks while the more recent and larger BMP-3 is uses two water jets mounted one either side at the rear, a common solution for more modern designs.

Before entering the water, the BMP-3 driver must start the bilge pumps, extend the trim vane at the front of the hull, raise the snorkel at the rear and make certain all hatches are closed and watertight. This all takes time and can be a distraction so is best not done under fire.

Wheeled Russian AFVs such as the BRDM-2 reconnaissance vehicle and BTR-60/70/80/82-series armoured personnel carriers (APCs) use a single waterjet at the rear of the hull. Using wheels alone in water is not a realistic option although it has been tried with special tyres.

The latest VPK-7829 Bumerang 8x8 IFV meanwhile has an upgrade: two propellers situated one either side at the rear.

Russian MBTs can typically ford to a depth of up to four metres using a large circular pipe which is normally fitted to the commander’s position. The MBT also must be sealed and this takes valuable time.

While capable of crossing rivers, stream and lakes, Russian AFVs have limited capabilities for true amphibious operations such as those carried out by the US Marine Corps (USMC) since its island-hopping campaigns of the Pacific War. As such operations may be on the agenda again if China becomes public enemy number one, what is the current state of the US art?

Development of the Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) category continued into the 1950s and the FMC (now BAE Systems) AAV7 was in production for the USMC from 1971 through to 1974 – a long time ago.

There were three versions, AAVP-7 (personnel), AAVC-7 (command) and AAVR-7 (recovery) and these have been upgraded several times, creating the A1 and A2 configurations.

They are still used in declining numbers by the USMC and have also been sold to countries including Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Romania, South Korea (local production), Spain, Taiwan and Venezuela. Upgrades have included an improved diesel power pack, additional passive armour and an up-gunned weapon station.

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The AAV7 was to have been replaced by the Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) developed by General Dynamics Land Systems which was later renamed the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV).

Following trials with prototypes the EFV was subsequently cancelled for a variety of reasons, including reliability.

If fielded, the EFV would have provided a step change in capability as it had a much higher water speed, and a more powerful remote-controlled turret (RCT) armed with a 30mm cannon and 7.62mm machine gun (MG).

The USMC is now deploying BAE Systems’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) 8x8, which is basically the IDV SuperAV design that formed the basis for the Italian VBA (see below) modified to meet US requirements.

Over 250 ACVs have now been built with the first model being the ACV-Personnel with a crew of three that can transport 13 marines, followed by the ACV-Command. The Baseline ACV-P is fitted with a Kongsberg RT20 remote weapon station (RWS) armed with a stabilised 12.7mm MG.

Following initial trials, BAE Systems was awarded a $188.5 million full-rate production (FRP) contract in April 2025 for the ACV-30 IFV variant. This is for 30 vehicles funded under FRP Lot 5/6.

ACV-30 is fitted with a Kongsberg RCT armed with a stabilised Northrop Grumman 30mm dual feed cannon and 7.62mm coaxial MG.

BAE Systems is also building three ACV-Recovery production-representative test vehicles under a contract placed in April 2024. Will the US need to fund additional amphibious platforms, including uncrewed ones? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, Turkey is now placing increased emphasis on amphibious capabilities and local company FNSS has developed the Marine Assault Vehicle (MAV) which have already been deployed from the new Landing Helicopter Dock Anadolu.

A total of 27 have been supplied in three versions: APC (25); command and control (one); and recovery (one), with all being fully amphibious and propelled in the water by the inevitable pair of waterjets.

The APC version has a crew of three consisting of commander, gunner and driver plus 18 dismounts who can rapidly enter and leave via a power-operated rear ramp.

They are equipped with an FNSS CAKA RWS which can be armed with a stabilised 12.7mm automatic grenade launcher (AGL).

Outside Turkey and the US, the only other country that has made serious attempts to develop and field a new generation of tracked amphibious assault vehicles is China.

These have obviously been developed with an eye on an eventual “reintegration” of Taiwan and are operated by the PLA Navy Marine Corps, three services in one!

In many respects this family of vehicles is very similar to the now-defunct US EFV – it is not impossible some intellectual property may have “transferred itself” at some point. They have a land speed of up to 65km/h and a water speed of up to 25km/h, using adjustable hydro-pneumatic suspension which is raised when afloat to reduce drag.

There are at least four versions. The baseline VN16 assault vehicle (ZBD-06) has a crew of four and a turret armed with a 105mm low pressure gun, 7.62mm coaxial MG and a roof-mounted 12.7mm MG.

The VN18 (ZBD-05) IFV has a crew of three and can carry 11 dismounts. It has a two-person turret armed with a 30mm cannon, 7.62mm co-axial MG and HJ-73D anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) on either side. It can engage with its main armament whilst afloat.

Other versions include an APC with a cupola-mounted 12.7mm MG, plus ambulance, recovery and command post variants. All feature a navigation system and use welded aluminium armour with applique passive elements for a higher level of protection.

These are marketed by NORINCO under the VN designation and some export sales have been made to Venezuela plus a few to Thailand.

In addition, China has developed systems that would help other vehicles, tracked and wheeled, to exit a beach area once they have landed.

Other nations have opted for 8x8s in the amphibious assault role. The Italian Navy will get its first IDV Veicolo Blindato Anfibio (VBA) vehicles for its San Marco Marine Brigade this year with final deliveries in 2030. These will replace older US-supplied AAV7A1s.

VBA does not fall under the CIO (Consorzio Iveco-Oto Melara) joint venture that produces most vehicles for the Italian Army and is an exclusively IDV product with manufacture undertaken in Bolzano, northern Italy.

The baseline VBA is armed with a Leonardo Hitrole RWS armed with a stabilised 12.7mm MG and has a crew of three consisting of commander, gunner and driver plus ten dismounts.

This APC will be followed by other specialised versions including a “combat vehicle” fitted with a Leonardo RCT armed with a 30mm dual-feed cannon and 7.62mm coaxial MG, command post, recovery model and mortar carrier.

Before entering the water the trim vane is erected at the front of the hull, snorkel extended, bilge pumps activated and hatches and rear ramp sealed.

When afloat it has a maximum speed of up to 10km/h propelled by two independent propellers mounted on either side at the rear, which are driven from the automatic transmission.

Japan meanwhile operates a batch of ex-US AAV7s but is developing a ”Next Generation Unmanned Amphibious Vehicle” which will be optimised for crossing the coral reef line and have two modes of operation, water and land, and in many respects will be similar in concept to the US EFV but probably more compact.

Japan has already completed several test vehicles to prove the concept and it could well enter service later this decade.

Developments elsewhere have been limited. France developed a true amphibious version of the tracked AMX-10P IFV which was specifically modified using a different engine, larger diameter water jets either side, four bilge pumps and trim vane at the front of the hull.

There were two customers. Indonesia took delivery of 34 of which 24 had a turret armed with a 12.7mm MG and ten fitted with the TS-90 two-person turret armed with a 90mm gun and coaxial 7.62mm MG. These are believed to be still operational.

Singapore meanwhile took delivery of 22 with the 90mm TS-90 turret and 22 with a one-man Dragar turret armed with a 25mm cannon and 7.62mm coaxial MG. Recent reports suggest these are in storage.

Many forces now prefer to use other means for crossing rivers and lakes, including pontoon bridges and ferries. An example of the latter is the FNSS Otter Rapid Deployable Amphibious Wet Gap Crossing System which can be used as a bridge or a ferry system and is in service with the Turkish Land Forces Command.

This has all-wheel drive and one unit in ferry mode can take a vehicle weighing up to Military Load Class (MLC) 21 while three coupled together can take vehicles up to MLC 120. When coupled together to form a bridge it can also take MLC 120.

Crossing a river is not always simple as it can be fast-flowing and perhaps have steep banks which can be difficult to negotiate, even for a nominally amphibious vehicle.

Little effort therefore seems to have been devoted to this area. One of the few non-Russian tracked IFVs to have an amphibious capability is the South Korean Hanwha K21. This is kept afloat by two cylindrical air bags either side, with a trim vane erected at the front and the hull sealed before entering the water.

In the past floatation screens were used, which when erected enabled vehicles such as M113-series APCs to cross river but these have now been discarded as they were very vulnerable.

In summary, amphibious vehicles intended to operate across the beach, often in difficult circumstances, really have to be designed from scratch as it is a different environment. Most operators do not see any benefit in adding the capability to “regular” APCs and IFVs as it would compromise the wider mission and other methods are available of dealing with water obstacles in a land campaign.

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