Brief
The Light Armored Vehicle 25 , generally referred to as LAV-25 , is a light armored vehicle developed between 1981 and 1982 by General Motors Canada on behalf of the armed forces of the United States and in particular to equip the Rapid Deployment Task Force . Originally planned for the United States Army and Marine Corps , only the second procured around 800 copies, as the Army quickly dropped the program due to budget cuts.
Based on the Mowag Piranha , the LAV-25 is intended for reconnaissance and rapid deployment before the arrival of heavy vehicles or in theaters where speed and maneuverability are more important than armor. Several variants were also developed for the Marines for fire support, support and anti-tank warfare, while foreign customers also developed their own versions.
Operation video
informations
| LAV-25 | |
 A USMC LAV-25 near Al Anbar Province , Iraq on. | |
| Service characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Kind | light armored vehicle |
| Service | Since 1983 |
| Production | |
| Designer | General Motors Canada |
| Year of conception | 1981-1982 |
| Main Features | |
| Crew | 3-9 |
| Length | 6.42m |
| Lenght | 2.50m |
| Height | 2.56m |
| Ground clearance | 0.38m |
| Mace in battle | 12.88t |
| Armament | |
| Main armament | A 25mm M242 Bushmaster cannon |
| Secondary armament | A coaxial M240 machine gun; An M60 or M240 machine gun (optional). |
| Mobility | |
| Engine | General Motors 6V53T |
| Powerful | 275 hp at 2,400 rpm |
| Transmission | Allison MT653 |
| Suspension | Springs and torsion bars |
| Road speed | 100 km/h |
| Power to weight | 19.4 hp/t |
| Tank | 268.8L |
| Autonomy | approx. 644km |
Operators
Current operators
Saudi ArabiaNational Guard of Saudi Arabia - 1,900 examples of various versions of Mowag Piranha including LAV-25
United States893 all versions early 2020.USMC - 403 LAV-25, 95 LAV-AT, etc. in 2008
US Army - A small number of USMC LAV-25A2s acquired for the 4th Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade , 82nd Airborne Division in 2018
Additional information
Development
Development of the LAV began in the late 1970s, when the Carter administration sought to equip the newly created Rapid Deployment Task Force . InApril 1981, a call for tenders was launched with twenty companies for a light armored vehicle to equip the troops of the United States Army and the Marine Corps assigned to the RDTS. Three of them make a sufficiently convincing proposition to be studied in detail: Alvis , Cadillac Gage and General Motors Canada 1 .
In order to decide between the three competitors, each of them must produce three test vehicles, two armed with an M242 Bushmaster 25 mm cannon and one with a 90 mm Cockerill cannon. At Alvis the latter is mounted on a Scorpion 90 chassis and the 25 mm gun on the Stormer. Cadillac Gage offers a new vehicle, the V-300, and a stretched version of the V-150 Commando . Finally, General Motors is inspired by the MOWAG Piranha which they produce under license for the Canadian army 2 . After the trials, which take place at Yuma and Twentynine Palms, the General Motors project was declared the winner inseptember 1982. The US Army then plans to buy 3,250 copies of the vehicle, which it designates M1047, and the Marines 744 copies of the LAV. Due to budgetary difficulties, however, the US Army initially reduced the order envisaged to purchase HMMWVs instead, then completely abandoned the acquisition project 3 .
It entered service first in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) in 1983, which received 758 copies, all versions included in 2007, according to the Military Today 4 site and 893 in 2020 according to the Aeron 5 site .
The LAV-25 received armor upgrades in 1991 and 1998 6 . The development of a vehicle life extension program was launched in 2000 and entrusted to the company Metric Systems. This program consists of the modernization of electronics, the replacement of components identified as unreliable and the reduction of the thermal signature. The first improved vehicles are available fromMay 2003and take the name of LAV-A1 7 .
More substantial changes are undertaken in 2005 in the light of the experience acquired in Iraq. The LAV-A2 has greater protection than previous versions, especially against mines and improvised explosive devices ; a fire-fighting device is additionally installed inside the crew compartment. Due to the weight of the new armor, the suspension is also reinforced. The electronics, in particular the fire control systems, are also the subject of improvements 7 . The conversion contract is entrusted to General Dynamics inFebruary 2006and the first vehicles are available fromOctober 20078 .
In 2020, retirement from service is expected in the 2030s 5 .
Protection
Originally, the LAV is protected by simple steel armor providing protection against 7.62 mm bullets and shrapnel 10 . In order to provide better protection, an additional armor kit in the form of ceramic tiles to be fixed to the hull was developed by Foster-Miller inApril 1991. Called LAST, for Light Appliqué System Technique , this kit allows the vehicle to resist projectiles up to 14.5 mm . However, only 75 vehicles were equipped and they were not ready in time for use in the Gulf War . Another kit, called CCA for Composite Ceramic Armor , was designed in 1998 by the Rafael company and made it possible to resist 20 mm armor -piercing shells 6 .
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