As America’s premier expeditionary force, the U.S. Marine Corps is typically the first deployed to trouble spots around the world. The Marines place a premium on light, hard-hitting equipment, and one of the best examples is the LAV-25 light armored vehicle. The eight-wheeled LAV-25 has participated in every ground operation involving U.S. forces for five decades, from Panama to Afghanistan.
In the 1970s, in the wake of the Vietnam War, the Marine Corps turned its attention to the Middle East as a potential theater of conflict. The service was slated to be a pillar of the Rapid Deployment Force, the command responsible for the Middle East region and precursor to U.S. Central Command. While the Marines had vast experience in long-distance military campaigns, the need to quickly move forces by sea and air halfway to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern states led to a requirement for a mobile protected weapon system that could “operate over great distances with significant firepower.”
Enter the Piranha
The Marine Corps chose the LAV-25, or the Piranha, a light armored vehicle developed by the Swiss defense contractor Mowag. Since World War II, the Marines had only operated three types of vehicles: tanks, tank destroyers, and amphibious assault vehicles. The Piranha was unlike any other vehicle in the Marines’ inventory.
The Piranha was 21 feet long and 8 feet 10 inches tall. It was quick and responsive, thanks to its liquid-cooled V-6 turbocharged diesel engine and weight of 14 tons. This gave it a horsepower-to-weight ratio of 21 per ton and a top speed of 62 miles per hour. It had 20 inches of ground clearance, giving it good cross-country mobility. It could traverse a 60-percent gradient, a 1.6-foot vertical obstacle, and a 6½-foot trench.
The Piranha’s turret is equipped with a M242 Bushmaster autocannon, the same gun used in the Army’s M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. The M242 has a maximum effective range of 1.2 miles and is stabilized for accurate fire on the move. The gun can fire both high-explosive incendiary (HEI) for engaging infantry and soft targets, and armor-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) for use against armored vehicles. Secondary armament consists of a coaxially mounted M240 coaxial machine gun.
The LAV’s light weight and relatively compact form made it easily transportable. A C-130 Hercules transport can carry one vehicle internally, and a CH-53 Sea Stallion heavy lift helicopter can carry one externally, slung underneath the aircraft as cargo. The LAV-25 can ride from an amphibious ship at sea to shore via U.S. Navy LCAC hovercraft and Landing Craft Utility (LCU) boats. By erecting a trim vane and relying on hull-mounted propellers, a LAV can cross water obstacles at 6.2 miles per hour.
From Panama to Iraq
LAVs are organized into battalions, with one battalion for each of the four Marine divisions. Each battalion consists of 120 LAVs, including LAV-25s, a command and control variant (LAV-CC), a recovery variant (LAV-R), logistics variant (LAV-L), anti-tank variant (LAV-AT), and mortar vehicle (LAV-M).
LAVs first went into action in the invasion of Panama in December 1989. The following year saw LAVs headed to Saudi Arabia to head off an Iraqi attack on Saudi Arabia. In February 1991, LAVs spearheaded the liberation of Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Storm. From 1992 to 1999, LAVs deployed to Somalia, Liberia, Zaire, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Albania, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Today, LAVs are a part of every Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), a 5,000-strong air-land-sea task force trained to deploy from amphibious ships. There are typically two MEUs at sea at any given time, deployed on Amphibious Ready Groups and ready for action.
The Takeaway
The LAV-25 is one of the most versatile weapons in the Pentagon’s arsenal. It has served an exceptionally long time—40-plus years—and is scheduled to be replaced in the 2030s by a new Mobile Reconnaissance Vehicle. In the meantime, the LAV’s combination of speed and firepower, coupled with its exceptional ability to deploy worldwide at a moment’s notice, makes it an ideal component of any crisis response force.
Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News, and others. He lives in San Francisco.
